The Canucks have signed RFA goalie Arturs Silovs to a two-year contract, per a team announcement. Silovs will earn $850K per season, per Frank Seravalli of Daily Faceoff.
Silovs, 23, has only limited regular-season experience, having made nine combined appearances for Vancouver over the past two seasons. He started all of them, posting a mediocre .898 SV% and 2.62 GAA but still managing a 6-2-1 record.
It’s in clutch time where the 2019 sixth-round pick has truly shined, though. He gained somewhat of a cult following representing his native Latvia at last year’s World Championship when he posted a .921 SV% in 10 games en route to winning a bronze medal, Latvia’s first in tournament history. For his efforts, Silovs was named the tournament’s best goaltender and most valuable player. He also had a strong preceding campaign for AHL Abbotsford in his first full season at the top minor-league level, compiling a 26-12-5 record with a .909 SV% in 44 appearances.
Silovs posted a similar stat line on the farm with Abbotsford last year and entered the playoffs as Vancouver’s third-string netminder behind Thatcher Demko and Casey DeSmith. But by Game 4 of their first-round series against the Predators, both Demko and DeSmith had exited with injuries, forcing Silovs into action. He held the fort, eventually backstopping the Canucks to a series win and a date with the Oilers in the second round. All in all, Silovs logged a .898 SV%, 2.91 GAA and one shutout in 10 games as he helped draw Edmonton, the eventual conference champion, to a Game 7. He remained in control of the crease even after the far more experienced DeSmith returned to health.
There was talk of the Canucks adding a supplementary netminder to give Silovs some competition for the backup job in training camp, but it hasn’t happened yet. For now, he projects to enter the season as the No. 2 behind Demko, who finished second in Vezina Trophy voting last season. As such, he’ll likely double or even triple his total number of NHL appearances to date. His role in Abbotsford will be replaced by former Golden Knight Jiří Patera, who they picked up as a UFA earlier this month.
Silovs will be 25 when his new deal expires in the summer of 2026, making him an RFA again.
Will he back up Demko though? Or is it better to send him to the AHL to play more than once a week, and to keep him fresh for the playoffs?
Has Smith been retained or offered?
Article postulates Silvia as #2 goalie. Like the signing but have questions.