NHL Announces 2024 Calder Trophy Finalists
Blackhawks center Connor Bedard, Wild defenseman Brock Faber and Devils defenseman Luke Hughes have been named finalists for this year’s Calder Trophy, awarded to the league’s top rookie.
Bedard, still just 18, led or tied for the lead in rookie (and Blackhawks) scoring with 22 goals, 39 assists and 61 points despite being limited to 68 games with a broken jaw sustained midseason. He’s the the second-youngest rookie in NHL history to lead their team in all three major offensive categories behind Sidney Crosby, who did so with 39 goals, 63 assists and 102 points in 81 games with the Penguins in 2005-06. Last year’s first-overall pick also led rookies league-wide in shots on goal and takeaways.
While he’s the favorite to win the award, there likely won’t be a very large gap between him and Faber when the voting breakdown among PHWA members is released. The 2020 second-round pick of the Kings had his signing rights dealt to Minnesota in the Kevin Fiala trade a few years back, and he turned pro last spring after three seasons at the University of Minnesota. He immediately jumped into the NHL lineup and stabilized the Wild defense this year with captain Jared Spurgeon missing most of the season with various injuries, posting eight goals and 47 points while playing in all 82 games. Faber averaged 24:58 per game – the most among qualified rookies since the stat has been tracked (1997-98), beating out Atlanta’s Toby Enström by a full 30 seconds.
Those advocating for Faber to take home the award will point to Bedard’s -44 rating, which sat near the bottom of the league. Both players had difficult usage against other teams’ top competition, especially Faber. Yet, compared to their teammates, Bedard was better at controlling possession than Faber, posting a 0.2 relative CF% at even strength compared to Faber’s -3.4 CF% impact. In a team context, though, Faber was much better at dominating possession quality with a 50.6 xGF% compared to Bedard’s 42.3 xGF%, per Hockey Reference.
Hughes’ chance at the award is minimal compared to his peers, but the nomination still puts a bow on a nice rookie season for the younger brother of Jack and Quinn. With Dougie Hamilton missing most of the campaign, New Jersey relied on Hughes as their top puck-moving and power-play option on the blue line. He responded well, tying Faber’s offensive totals with 47 points (nine goals, 38 assists) while also playing in all 82 games, a rarity for a Devils team that struggled to stay healthy this season. He averaged 21:28 per game and controlled possession well at even strength with a 55.0 CF% and a 52.3 xGF%, with his -25 rating largely sunk by the team’s poor goaltending.
Blues Sign Samuel Johannesson, Marcus Sylvegard
12:15 p.m.: St. Louis has now confirmed the signings of both Johannesson and Sylvegård, as previously reported, although financial terms were not disclosed. It’s a one-year entry-level agreement for Sylvegard. PuckPedia reports both deals carry cap hits of $870K, broken down into a $775K base salary, $95K signing bonus, $80K games played bonus, and $82.5K minors salary.
10:00 a.m.: The Blues are landing unrestricted free-agent defenseman Samuel Johannesson from the Swedish Hockey League’s Örebro HK, HockeyNews.se reports. League rules dictate it’ll be a two-year, entry-level contract when announced for the 23-year-old.
Johannesson was a sixth-round pick of the Blue Jackets in 2020, but his exclusive signing rights lapsed in June 2022 after he didn’t ink an ELC. He was already knocking on the door of being a full-time SHL player by the time he was drafted, skating in 44 games for Rögle BK in 2019-20, and has only solidified that standing since then. The 5’11” right-shot blue liner has bounced around with a few organizations, landing with Brynäs IF in 2022-23 and joining Örebro for this season after Brynäs lost their relegation series last summer and ended up in the second-tier HockeyAllsvenskan.
He’s now emerged as a solid puck-mover and one of the better offensive defenders in the SHL since earning top-of-the-lineup minutes with Brynäs last season. The Halmstad, Sweden, native remained in top-four minutes for Örebro, finishing second on the team in points with 27 (11 goals, 16 assists) in 43 games with a +5 rating. He added a goal in three playoff games as Örebro lost its play-in series to Luleå HF.
Johannesson was under contract with Örebro through 2024-25, so the Blues will need to buy him out – something HockeyNews.se says is important for an Örebro club that’s struggling financially. His deal will expire after the 2025-26 season, and the Blues will control his signing rights as an RFA. He’s their second expected signing out of the SHL this offseason, joining 24-year-old winger Marcus Sylvegård.
Devils Extend Shane Bowers, Sign Ryan Schmelzer
The Devils announced that they’ve re-signed forward Shane Bowers to a two-year, two-way contract. The deal carries a cap hit and a base salary of $775K each season. He’ll earn a $200K minors salary in 2024-25 and a $225K minors salary in 2025-26 with a $250K guarantee. New Jersey also inked free-agent forward Ryan Schmelzer to a two-year, two-way deal worth $775K in the NHL and $275K in the AHL in both seasons.
Bowers, 24, had his signing rights picked up by the Devils in a minor-league trade with the Bruins last June and promptly inked a one-year, two-way extension ($775K/$125K) to cover the 2023-24 campaign. The 2017 first-round pick cleared waivers at the end of training camp but received two brief call-ups during the season, one in January and one in April, totaling just over two weeks. He averaged just 9:27 in eight games with New Jersey, failing to record a point and going 7 for 22 on faceoffs with a +1 rating and seven shots. In 43 games with AHL Utica this year, he was limited to 10 goals, four assists and 14 points in 43 games with a -12 rating.
Despite being with his fourth organization since being drafted by the Senators seven years ago, this was Bowers’ first real look in the NHL. He made his NHL debut with the Avalanche last season but was injured after logging just 1:46 of ice time. The Nova Scotian is firmly organizational depth at this point of his career, and unless he works his way into Utica’s top six next season and has a major offensive resurgence, he’s close to peaking as an AHL fixture.
Schmelzer, 30, lands his first NHL contract, but he’s no stranger to the Devils. He’s spent the last six seasons on minor-league contracts with their AHL affiliates in Binghamton and Utica and has served as their captain for the last three seasons. 2023-24 marked a career year for the Canisius College product, leading the club in points with 52 (18 goals, 34 assists) while playing in all 72 games with a team-high +14 rating. Now, with a contract in New Jersey in hand, the 6’2″ center will be eligible for NHL call-ups next year.
Both contracts will expire following the 2025-26 season, at which point Bowers will still have his signing rights controlled by the Devils as an RFA with arbitration eligibility. Schmelzer will be a UFA.
Poll: Should The Lightning Re-Sign Steven Stamkos?
In case you’ve missed the discourse after the Lightning’s first-round elimination last night (or haven’t read our preview of this summer’s top UFA left wings), Steven Stamkos is on an expiring contract. The future Hall-of-Famer has now wrapped up the eight-year, $68MM extension he signed in 2016 and will go to market on July 1 if not signed to an extension.
Over the course of his extension, the now 34-year-old Stamkos has overseen the greatest sustained period of success in franchise history. The club only missed the postseason once – the first season of his deal, 2016-17, in which a torn lateral meniscus in his right knee ended his campaign in November. Back-to-back Stanley Cups in 2020 and 2021, a third straight Finals appearance in 2022, and an additional Eastern Conference Final showing in 2018 have cemented the Lightning as arguably the most successful squad over the past 10 years, notwithstanding the three other ECF/SCF appearances Stamkos made with the team before his extension (2011, 2015, 2016).
Overall, injuries limited him to 513 of 618 possible regular-season games (83.8%) during his last contract, but he’s remained a capable top-of-the-lineup scorer and is money in the bank for over a point per game. He had 81 in 79 this season, including 40 goals – his seventh time hitting the milestone.
Stamkos has transitioned into a less-taxing role on the wing at even strength in his later years with the emergence of Anthony Cirelli and Brayden Point, as well as the extremely well-advised Nick Paul pickup, making his slightly negative possession impacts over the last two seasons easier to swallow. He was never a beacon of defensive excellence, but he did at least routinely post Corsi shares at even strength above the team’s overall share without him on the ice. That hasn’t been the case since 2021-22.
He’s still an extremely effective player, and given the precedent of other Lightning stars like Point and Nikita Kucherov taking slight discounts on their market value, it likely wouldn’t be prohibitively expensive to re-sign him. But Tampa’s lack of bottom-six scoring and poor defensive depth – especially without a fully healthy Mikhail Sergachev – was exposed in their rather decisive series loss to the Panthers.
The club has $10MM in projected cap space next season, with extensions/replacements also needed for Anthony Duclair, their best secondary scorer since his trade deadline pickup from the Sharks, and blue-liner Mathew Dumba. They’re also losing the $6.875MM of long-term injured reserve flexibility they’ve had from retired defenseman Brent Seabrook‘s contract over the past couple of seasons.
Point is still 28. Kucherov is 30. Cirelli is 26. Hedman is 33. Sergachev is 25. Vasilevskiy is 29. Even without Stamkos, it’s a playoff-caliber core for at least two to three more seasons with the right moves. Will that make general manager Julien BriseBois seriously consider prioritizing better depth adds over re-signing the best player in franchise history?
Stamkos said before the 2023-24 season started that he was disappointed in the lack of extension conversations with BriseBois. The six-year GM said in January that he still envisioned Stamkos as part of the roster moving forward but would wait until the offseason to evaluate where the roster stood. The results are as follows: Tampa scored just 36.9% of 5-on-5 goals in the series, a worse share than even the Capitals, who were swept at the hands of the Presidents’ Trophy-winning Rangers. Nine players, including most of their bottom six forwards, failed to score a point. Given they got everything they could ask for from their stars – seven points from Hedman, seven assists from Kucherov and five goals from Stamkos, that may very well swing the balance.
So, PHR readers, we now ask you: Are the Lightning better off keeping Stamkos or using offseason cap space to prioritize rebuilding their depth scoring and defense? Have your say in the poll below:
(poll link for app users)
Morning Notes: Couturier, Stamkos, Wild Goalies
Flyers captain Sean Couturier has made a rare early-offseason agent switch. He’s now repped by CAA Sports’ Pat Brisson, Daily Faceoff’s Frank Seravalli reports.
Couturier, 31, was previously represented by Sports Prospects’ Erik Lupien, whose only active NHL client is now Lightning forward Gabriel Fortier, per PuckPedia. Brisson won’t have any say in Couturier’s compensation anytime soon – he just finished the second season of an eight-year, $62MM extension that carries him through 2030. However, the change did come in short order after a season that ended poorly for the 12-year veteran, who was unexpectedly scratched by head coach John Tortorella for a pair of games in March as the Flyers were beginning to fall out of the playoff race.
Lupien did find his name in the news cycle around the time of Couturier’s scratch. He went on record to The Athletic’s Kevin Kurz ahead of Couturier’s first scratch on March 19, saying there had been minimal communication between Couturier and Tortorella about the captain’s diminishing role in the lineup heading into the game. “Sean won’t learn anything by being in the bleachers tonight,” he added. “If there’s no communication of why between the two, in 2024, from my perspective, it ain’t always good to coach and establish regimental fear.”
Couturier had 11 goals, 27 assists and 38 points in 74 games this season with a career-worst -10 rating. It was the most he’s played in a single season since before the COVID-19 pandemic, as he missed most of 2021-22 and all of 2022-23 while recovering from back surgery.
Before landing Couturier as a client, Brisson already managed the highest cumulative cap hit of active contracts ($231.5MM) of any NHL agent, according to PuckPedia. Among Couturier’s Flyers teammates, he also represents defensemen Erik Johnson, Nick Seeler and Cameron York, as well as forward prospects Alexis Gendron and Massimo Rizzo.
Other NHL news and notes to start your Tuesday:
- Until Lightning captain Steven Stamkos puts pen to paper on an extension, the possibility remains that last night’s Game 5 loss to the Panthers was his last in a Tampa uniform. Speaking to reporters after their first-round elimination, head coach Jon Cooper spoke briefly about his future, saying he hopes there won’t be much conversation about it. “He belongs here. We know it, he knows it… I don’t know what’s gonna happen, but he feels like a Bolt for life. Only he and Julien [BriseBois] can answer that one,” he said. Stamkos, one of the top pending UFAs, said last night that the thought of playing in his final game in Tampa “never crossed my mind” as Florida increased their lead late in a 6-1 win. During training camp, Stamkos said he was disappointed in the lack of early extension talks between him and general manager BriseBois, which still haven’t occurred.
- The Wild crease will be crowded next season with veteran Marc-André Fleury back for his final NHL season and rookie Jesper Wallstedt primed for more major-league time. That’s left many wondering where this leaves 25-year-old Filip Gustavsson, whose numbers were mediocre this season after finishing seventh in year-end positional All-Star voting in 2023. Speaking to The Athletic’s Joe Smith, GM Bill Guerin confirmed that Wallstedt “needs to get more than he got this year,” and they don’t yet have a plan in place for how they want to operate between the pipes. Carrying three goalies on the active roster isn’t an active proposition for a team with $14.7MM in dead cap space from the Zach Parise and Ryan Suter buyouts next season, so if the organization decides Wallstedt is ready for a full-time tandem role with Fleury instead of just increased call-up opportunities, Gustavsson could find himself on the trade market. He has a $3.75MM cap hit through 2025-26, an attractive number for a netminder who’s still cumulatively saved 26.3 goals above average in 84 games with the Wild since 2022.
Atlantic Notes: Matthews, Lomberg, Brazeau
Maple Leafs superstar Auston Matthews is traveling with the club back to Boston after missing the third period of Game 4 due to illness, but head coach Sheldon Keefe still won’t commit to him being available in a must-win Game 5. Speaking to reporters today, including ESPN’s Kristen Shilton, Keefe said the team is “hopeful he’s available and feeling good and back to himself.”
Matthews, 26, has been dealing with an illness for most of the last week, keeping him from being a full participant in practice with the club ahead of their losses in Games 3 and 4. He’s tied for the team lead in scoring in the series with a goal and two assists, all of which came in their Game 2 win in Boston. They now trail the Bruins 3-1 and need to win three straight to make it to the second round in back-to-back years for the first time since a four-year run between 1999 and 2002.
If Matthews is unable to go, Max Domi will slide over from the wing to center the first line, flanked by Tyler Bertuzzi and Mitch Marner, as suggested by today’s line rushes in practice. Connor Dewar projects to return to the lineup in a fourth-line role after being scratched in Game 4.
Other updates from the Atlantic’s contingent of postseason teams:
- Panthers enforcer Ryan Lomberg has been cleared to return from an illness but will remain scratched for Game 5 against the Lightning tonight, the team’s Jameson Olive indicates. Head coach Paul Maurice said yesterday that Lomberg was “down pretty hard” and will need a few more days to return to a game-ready conditioning level. The 29-year-old last played in Florida’s 3-2 Game 1 win, recording one shot in 6:32 of ice time. He had five goals and two assists in 75 games of regular-season action, as well as 80 PIMs.
- Bruins winger Justin Brazeau is an option to make his Stanley Cup Playoffs debut in tomorrow’s Game 5, head coach Jim Montgomery said (via The Boston Globe’s Conor Ryan). The 26-year-old rookie practiced without any non-contact designation today, a quicker recovery than expected after previously being ruled out for the entirety of the first round. He’s been out since the beginning of the month with an upper-body injury, causing him to miss the final six games of the regular season. After spending most of the season on a minor-league contract with AHL Providence, he has five goals and seven points while averaging 11:07 in 19 games with Boston since signing a two-year, two-way deal in mid-February.
Kraken Fire Head Coach Dave Hakstol
The Kraken are firing head coach Dave Hakstol, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports. Assistant coach Paul McFarland will also not return to the team next season, the team confirmed.
Speaking to reporters early last week, general manager Ron Francis declined to confirm whether Hakstol would be back with the team in 2024-25 despite a two-year extension kicking in on July 1. Francis released a statement on Hakstol’s firing today:
I thank Dave for his hard work and dedication to the Kraken franchise. Following our end-of-the-season review, we have decided to make a change at our head coach position. These decisions are never easy, but we feel this is a necessary step to help ensure our team continues to improve and evolve. Dave is a good coach and a terrific person. We wish him and his family all the best. We will begin our search for the Kraken’s next head coach immediately.
Hakstol, now 55, was hired as the first head coach in Kraken history in June 2021, four months before the puck dropped on their inaugural season. The former Flyers bench boss had been working on Sheldon Keefe‘s bench in Toronto as an assistant after getting fired by Philadelphia in 2018-19, partway through his fourth season with the club.
While the Kraken weren’t able to catch lightning in a bottle like their older expansion siblings, the Golden Knights, they’ve still reached a competitive standard of play in short order. They were nowhere near contention in their inaugural season, finishing with a 27-49-6 record, but the understaffed roster managed decent possession results at even strength in Hakstol’s system and was largely doomed by below-average seasons from goalies Chris Driedger and Philipp Grubauer.
Goaltending didn’t improve much in 2022-23 with Martin Jones entering the fold, but another season of above-average 5-on-5 possession and a second-place 11.6 shooting percentage earned Seattle a 100-point season and, with it, their first playoff berth. Despite missing 40-goal scorer Jared McCann for nearly half of their playoff games, the Kraken upset the defending champion Avalanche in the first round and took the 108-point Stars to seven games in the second before finally bowing out. It showed what the team could do against strong competition with even just average goaltending, supported by Grubauer’s .903 SV% and 2.7 goals saved above expected in 14 games, per MoneyPuck. Hakstol earned a nomination for that year’s Jack Adams Award as a result.
This season saw Joey Daccord give the club some much-needed stability between the pipes, but a major drop in offense (289 GF in 2022-23, 217 GF in 2023-24) doomed the club to a finish just below the .500 mark, 17 points back of a playoff spot. The drop in offense was mainly due to a 2.5% drop in their finishing to 9.1%. Seattle still managed solid possession numbers across the board at 5-on-5, controlling 51.8% of shot attempts, 51.2% of scoring chances and 50.6% of high-danger chances despite top defenseman Vince Dunn and top-six winger André Burakovsky missing significant time with injuries.
Across the board, those results suggest the Kraken are what they’ve been in all three seasons – a solid two-way team without a truly game-breaking offensive talent. It’s hard to fault Hakstol for a roster construction issue, but as Seattle is set to graduate prospects like Ryker Evans and Shane Wright to full-time NHL roles, it’s evident Francis wants a different voice to oversee the club as they shift their aim toward becoming more consistent playoff challengers. They’ll add to an already solid prospect pool with the eighth overall pick in this year’s draft, although that position may change based on the results of next week’s draft lottery.
Luckily for Hakstol, there are plenty of vacancies on the market that he could be considered for. The Blues, Devils, Kings, Senators and Sharks either fired their coach after the season ended or finished the campaign with interim bench bosses without a full-time replacement named.
For Seattle, it’s fair to wonder if Hakstol’s replacement may come from within. Assistant Jay Leach has drawn documented interest for head coaching vacancies in the past and will do so again with multiple positions open. If not, though, the recent rash of coach firings leaves Francis with an experienced list to pick from, as well as multiple up-and-coming candidates like University of Denver head coach David Carle.
Like Hakstol, McFarland had been with the Kraken since their inception. He was previously the GM and head coach of the Ontario Hockey League’s Kingston Frontenacs and has held assistant roles with the Maple Leafs and Panthers.
Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.
West Notes: DeSmith, Namestnikov, Kiviranta, Hague
Casey DeSmith isn’t on the game roster for Canucks in today’s Game 4 against the Predators, forcing Vancouver to turn to third-string Arturs Silovs for his first playoff start with Thatcher Demko already hurt. It doesn’t appear the Canucks expect DeSmith out for long, however, as he was only termed day-to-day with a lower-body injury. There was further evidence to the fact shortly after the game started, as The Athletic’s Thomas Drance reports DeSmith was still the Canucks’ designated emergency backup for today’s game.
The 32-year-old would only be eligible to play if Silovs and backup Nikita Tolopilo suffered in-game injuries. Otherwise, holding DeSmith out of game action points to his absence as being more precautionary than anything else, hoping to avoid aggravating whatever he’s dealing with. Assumedly, he’ll be back in action for elimination games later in the series after putting up a .911 SV% in two postseason games thus far.
Elsewhere in the Western Conference:
- Jets forward Vladislav Namestnikov left today’s Game 4 loss to the Avalanche after a Nate Schmidt slapshot hit him in the side of the head in the middle of the third period. He remained on the ice for nearly a minute and was able to skate off with the assistance of trainers, not requiring a stretcher. He’s still been transported to a Denver hospital for evaluation, reports Guerilla Sports’ Jesse Montano. Winnipeg head coach Rick Bowness had no update on Namestnikov’s health postgame other than confirming he was taken to a hospital. The 31-year-old had a goal and a -2 rating in the first three games of the series, which the Jets now trail 3-1.
- The Avalanche were without winger Joel Kiviranta in today’s win, paving the way for 24-year-old Nikolai Kovalenko to make his NHL debut after being recalled from the AHL less than an hour prior to puck drop. Speaking with reporters postgame, Avs head coach Jared Bednar confirmed Kiviranta’s absence was injury-related, calling him day-to-day with a lower-body issue (via NHL.com’s Ryan Boulding). The 28-year-old had worked his way into a third-line role, a domino effect due to Jonathan Drouin being out for the series. He started the season on a PTO and subsequent AHL contract but inked a major-league deal with Colorado in November. He has one assist and a +2 rating in three games against the Jets this postseason.
- The Golden Knights expect to be without defenseman Nicolas Hague again in tomorrow’s Game 4 against the Stars, head coach Bruce Cassidy said (via the Las Vegas Review-Journal’s Danny Webster). He sustained a lower-body injury in the third period of Vegas’ Game 1 win and has yet to return to practice. The 25-year-old’s third-pairing duties have been assumed by veteran Alec Martinez, who began the postseason on the outside looking in after the Golden Knights’ trade deadline acquisition of Noah Hanifin pushed him down the depth chart. Hague made 73 appearances in the regular season, accumulating two goals and 12 points.
Central Notes: Chisholm, Marchment, Faksa, Fabbro
The Wild picked up one of the more interesting young players who hit waivers this season – defenseman Declan Chisholm. A Jets 2018 fifth-round pick who played just two games for Winnipeg in the first few months of the season, Chisholm immediately became an everyday player in Minnesota, posting three goals and eight points in 29 games while averaging 16:52 per game, 1:53 of which came on the power play.
He’s had a strong enough showing to earn him more runway in Minnesota as the club is expected to extend or issue a qualifying offer to the pending RFA, notes The Athletic’s Michael Russo. Chisholm was an RFA last summer, too. Without being eligible for arbitration and hoping for a one-way deal, he was one of the last remaining holdouts league-wide when he signed a one-year, two-way pact with Winnipeg in September. He’s arbitration-eligible this time around, though, putting a yet-to-be-disclosed firm end date on negotiations if he ends up in another lengthy dispute.
All indications point to Chisholm earning the first one-way contract of his career, and he should slot in as a cheap, puck-moving option near the bottom of the lineup for the cap-strapped Wild. Minnesota owes him a qualifying offer of $813,750, a cap hit he’s likely to eclipse when all is said and done.
Other updates out of the Central:
- Stars forwards Radek Faksa and Mason Marchment will be game-time decisions for the second contest in a row ahead of Game 4 against the Golden Knights tomorrow, head coach Peter DeBoer said (via the Dallas Morning News’ Lia Assimakopoulos). Neither played in last night’s 3-2 overtime win, paving the way for Ty Dellandrea and Craig Smith to make their series debuts. They practiced with the team today after sustaining undisclosed injuries late in Game 2’s loss.
- Predators defenseman Dante Fabbro will make his first appearance of the 2024 postseason when Nashville takes the ice for Game 4 against the Canucks in a few minutes, head coach Andrew Brunette said (via Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman). He comes in to replace Spencer Stastney, who left Game 3 with an upper-body injury after a controversial hit from Vancouver winger Dakota Joshua. Stastney has since been ruled out week-to-week and is doubtful to return in the series. It’ll be Fabbro’s sixth appearance since the March 8 trade deadline – he missed most of last month with an upper-body injury. The 25-year-old had 13 points and a +9 rating in 56 games this year and signed a one-year, $2.5MM extension on deadline day.
Canucks Without Casey DeSmith For Game 4, Arturs Silovs Starts
Just one week into the postseason, the Canucks are down to their third-string goalie. Latvian rookie Arturs Silovs is expected to start Game 4 against the Predators this afternoon after Casey DeSmith sustained an undisclosed injury in Friday’s Game 3 win, reports Daily Faceoff’s Frank Seravalli.
DeSmith’s injury occurred late in Game 3 and is unrelated to the hit he took from Predators center Michael McCarron in the first period that resulted in a minor penalty and a fine for the latter. He’s listed as day-to-day and remains an option for Game 5 on Tuesday, per Seravalli. Vancouver will dress 24-year-old Belarusian netminder Nikita Tolopilo from AHL Abbotsford to backup Silovs today – he was rostered under emergency conditions earlier in the week.
Vancouver is already without starter and likely Vezina Trophy nominee Thatcher Demko, thanks to a suspected knee injury in Game 1. He’s listed as week-to-week, and there’s no consensus on when he may become available.
DeSmith did well under unexpected pressure, stopping 41 of the 45 shots he faced for a .911 SV% and 2.02 GAA. He made 29 saves on 30 shots to buoy the Canucks in Game 3, who won 2-1 despite only getting 12 shots through to Preds netminder Juuse Saros. The 32-year-old had only one playoff start entering Game 2 of this series, coming in 2022 with the Penguins in Game 1 of their first-round loss to the Rangers. He stopped 48 of 51 shots faced before leaving due to injury in the first overtime – Pittsburgh eventually won 4-3 in 3OT with backup Louis Domingue stopping all 17 Rangers shots he faced.
The Canucks now turn to Silovs, who spent most of the year with Abbotsford but made four starts down the stretch while Demko missed multiple weeks with an unrelated knee injury. Vancouver went 3-0-1 in games Silovs started, but the 23-year-old didn’t post the prettiest numbers, logging a .881 SV%. Shot quality data points to that being an artificially low number, though, as the Canucks didn’t give him much help defensively – Silovs saved exactly as many goals as expected, per MoneyPuck. The 2019 sixth-round pick had a .907 SV%, 2.74 GAA and four shutouts in 34 showings for Abbotsford this year, compiling a 16-11-6 record.
While inexperienced at the NHL level, Silovs is no stranger to performing well in big moments. He had a strong .914 SV% in two postseason games for Abbotsford last year and has been exceptional on the international stage, logging a .929 SV% and 1.96 GAA in 14 appearances for Latvia at the 2022 and 2023 World Championships. He was named the MVP of last year’s tournament, backstopping his country to a bronze medal – their first ever at the event.
Backing up Silovs is Tolopilo, an undrafted free-agent pickup last summer out of the second tier of Swedish pro hockey. He’s had similar numbers to Silovs with Abbotsford this year, earning a .905 SV% and 2.83 GAA in 35 appearances.
Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.