Canucks’ Top 25 Under 25 (2022 Edition): #8 Arturs Silovs

Sep 21, 2022 - 12:45 PM
NHL: APR 28 Kings at Canucks
Photo by Derek Cain/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images




Welcome to the Canucks Top 25 Under 25 Rankings, the series that makes you wish you were under 25 again. The list includes all players born after April 15th, 1998.

It’s weird to think that Vancouver used to be known as a goaltending graveyard.

Over the past several years, the Canucks have had high-profile, high-quality netminders such as Robert Luongo, Cory Schneider, Ryan Miller, Jacob Markstrom, and Thatcher Demko between the pipes.

While there’s a ways to go, Arturs Silovs looks like he could be the next face of the Canucks crease if things keep going his way.

Silovs — drafted in the sixth round of the 2019 draft (hosted in Vancouver) — has been working alongside Ian Clark to develop his game. By many accounts, he has rounded into form as a top goaltending prospect.

Despite a save percentage that’s not overly impressive with a 0.888 with the Abbotsford Canucks, his ECHL number looks much better, at 0.920. It’s also tough to judge his numbers on a mere 10-game sample size (in each league), and perhaps why it’s important to take the praise from goaltending experts seriously. As well, in four games, Silovs put up a superb 0.952 save percentage representing Latvia in four games at the World Championship, an impressive feat for a young goalie.

CanucksArmy goaltending expert David Quadrelli praised Silovs’ flexibility, comparing to Andrei Vasilevskiy of the Tampa Bay Lightning in that regard. Cam Robinson, prospect expert for Dobber Prospects, talks about Silovs as “a big, athletic netminder” with “quality quickness” and “untapped upside”.

What’s Next for Silovs?

Silovs enjoyed success at the Young Stars tournament, including a 3-0 shutout in the first contest. While Silovs was hardly facing a murderer’s row of opponents, it’s always nice to see the early success for the goaltender.

It seems likely that Silovs will be the full-time backup with the Abbotsford Canucks this season, given that Michael DiPietro’s time may be coming to an end in the Canucks organization. He could even push for a starter’s role, even though he’s currently fifth on the goaltending depth chart, behind DiPietro and Collin Delia in Abbotsford.

Spencer Martin vibes, anyone?

Regarless, Silovs is well on his way to an increased workload, which will give him the type of stability that he has not necessarily had in the past couple of seasons.

It seems unlikely that Silovs will be ready for NHL backup action for a couple of seasons, but the upside remains strong, and this season will be a big stepping stone in his development.








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