Penguins Acquire Goalie Silovs from Canucks

Just when I was rather blissfully settling into a deep summertime hockey slumber, Kyle Dubas had to go and pull off another trade.

The Penguins’ POHO/GM acquired 24-year-old goalie Arturs Silovs from old friend Jimmy Rutherford’s Canucks for minor-league forward Chase Stillman and a fourth-round pick in the 2027 Entry Draft.

My initial reaction…surprise bordering on shock. Especially since PenguinPoop colleague Caleb Di’Natale rousted me from an actual afternoon nap to inform me of the trade. Bear with me while I try to organize my thoughts.

I presumed we’d parted with Alex Nedeljkovic for the express purpose of opening up a slot behind starter Tristan Jarry for one (or both) of our prime goaltending prospects, Joel Blomqvist or Sergei Murashov. The arrival of Silovs, still a prospect himself, roils those waters somewhat.

To digress, the native of Riga, Latvia, is a former sixth-round pick of the Canucks in 2019. According to Caleb, the rangy 6’4’ 203-pounder plays a scrambling style reminiscent of Hall-of-Famer Dominik Hasek.

Thrust into the spotlight in ’23-24 in the wake of injuries to Thatcher Demko and then Canucks’ backup Casey DeSmith, Silovs became the de facto starter for the club’s playoff run. Doing his best Louis Domingue imitation, he backstopped the Canucks to a series victory over the Preds and won three games against the eventual Cup finalist Oilers while posting a 5-5 record, 2.91 goals against and .898 save percentage (the same as Mr. Spicy Pork).

Last season, Silovs was subpar in 10 games with the Canucks (.861 SV%), ordinary in 24 regular-season games with AHL Abbotsford (.908 SV%) and superb during that team’s Calder Cup run (2.01 GAA, .931 SV%). In the process, garnering playoff MVP honors.

Given the back story, it seems like an odd time to trade the kid. However, with the Canucks committed long-term to veterans Demko and Kevin Lankinen in goal, it appears JR and GM Patrik Allvin opted to get something for Silovs rather than risk losing him on waivers.

As for Stillman, I confess I was excited when Dubas acquired the former first-rounder (29^th overall) from the Devils in the Cody Glass trade, especially since he plays with an edge. However, the son of former NHLer Cory Stillman flopped in 19 games with the Baby Pens (a goal and two helpers) and was obviously deemed expendable.

Back to the big picture. Maybe Dubas was concerned, and rightfully so, about exposing either Blomqvist and Murashov behind a defensive corps that could be weaker than last season’s, as if that were even possible. Setting up the more experienced Silovs as a sacrificial lamb of sorts.

Or perhaps, given the volatile state of goaltending around the league, Dubas plans to flip Silovs.

Maybe there’s even a third option. Frankly, I’m not sold on Blomqvist as a star-in-the-making, let alone a legit NHL starter. Joel just seemed fragile to me, for lack of a better way to describe him. I think he’ll be surpassed by Murashov on our depth chart, later if not sooner.

Perhaps it’s Blomqvist who’ll be dealt.

Then again, I could be all wet about all of this. After all, I just woke up.

For the Record

If Silovs does indeed wind up stopping pucks for us, he’ll be the second Latvian-born goalie to tend the twine for the black and gold.

In the late ’90s, Peter Skudra, who also hails from Riga, backstopped the Pens over a three-season stretch and posted a 2.74 GAA and .894 SV%, including an impressive 1.83 GAA and .924 SV% in 17 games as a rookie in ’97-98.