Silovs could take over Canucks backup goalie spot next season
It’s hard not to like what Vancouver Canucks goalie Arturs Silovs has done in the NHL thus far.
Thrust into action this year due to an injury to Thatcher Demko, the 23-year-old has been as steady as can be between the pipes.
The Latvian goalie has only allowed three goals and has a .945 save percentage across his two starts this year. While he hasn’t played the toughest opponents in the Anaheim Ducks and Arizona Coyotes, he’s helped the Canucks earn all the available points in those games.
“He looks like a veteran in there, very solid, looks big in the net. Really like the poise in the kid. Even some shots on the rebounds, he’s right there,” said head coach Rick Tocchet after Wednesday’s 2-1 win over the Coyotes. “He’s not flipping and flopping, he’s right there. He looks like he’s been watching Demko tapes. He’s there on the rebound. Obviously two really good games for us from Arturs.”
Artūrs Šilovs atvaira 22 no 23 Arizonas "Coyotes" metieniem un izcīna savu otro NHL uzvaru sezonā! 🔥🔥🔥 pic.twitter.com/9sOAvrigLg
— NHL Latvija (@Latvija_NHL) April 4, 2024
Silovs has also had success in the AHL this season posting a 15-11-6 record with a 2.74 goals-against-average and .907 save percentage.
Backup Casey DeSmith is an unrestricted free agent this summer and his solid play this season in relief means he should draw interest from around the league. With Silovs’ strong play this season, the Canucks could save some cash and promote the Latvian to a full-time role next season.
Silovs is a restricted free agent this summer but will surely get a much smaller salary than what DeSmith can command on the open market. With Oliver Ekman-Larsson’s buyout increasing by more than $2 million, this could be a great opportunity to offset that increased cost.
If you exclude his NHL debut game last year, he has a save percentage better than .900 in all of his career starts. That’s six straight games where he has played well.
“I think it’s more just being calm. For me it’s being patient on more of the shots and waiting for those players,” said the Latvian about the difference in this year’s NHL stint compared to last year’s.
It’s a small sample size, but six of Silovs’ seven career games (85.7%) have been quality starts as per the metric designed by Rob Vollman. For reference, 57.3% of Demko’s career games have been deemed a quality start. This season, where Demko has been one of the NHL’s best goalies, he’s had a quality start 65.3% of the time.
“He’s a confident kid. He beat me at Worlds this year, he stood on his head and took a medal from us, so good to see him playing for us,” said Conor Garland about Silovs after the team beat the Coyotes. “He’s playing great, talented, he’s just going to keep getting better.”
While in Vancouver, Silovs gets the chance to work more closely with highly regarded goalie coach Ian Clark. He says that opportunity has been great for his progress.
“It helped a lot. A lot of meetings, a lot of videos, we work a lot of individual and goalie ices so it’s great progress for me,” said Silovs about the development process with the NHL club.
All of that extra work could pay off in a huge way next season when he’s fighting for the backup role.