Prospect Info: 156th overall: Vancouver selects Arturs Silovs (Goalie, Latvia ---> Barrie Colts)

[FreshBlood]

Best goalie of the World Championship.

Also MVP.

 

[Knight53]

Named best goalie of the tournament. Fantastic year for the guy who has cemented himself as a top 10 goalie prospect in the world.

Think there’s a clear top 5 all pretty interchangeable.

Askarov
Wolf
Silovs
Levi
Wallstedt

 

[Nick Lang]

If Demko gets injured then Silovs can be called up and split starts with Martin or whomever is the back up. The point is that you want Silovs getting 40-55 games to get that experience to keep bedding in those skills and technique he works with Clark and the Abbotsford goalie coach. If he plays as back up in the NHL he’d probably only get around 20-30 games.

Again, I’d like to emphasise that while the WC performance is impressive, it is a step below NHL competition and a small sample size, playing behind a team that is “parking the bus” in front of Silovs. That is not how the Canucks will play. I believe what the goalie experts are saying: Silovs needs more time to refine his game.


I give up.

Fair enough. Good points. My only point is that Martin is putrid and if the team wants a shot at the playoffs Martin will kill that if he's the backup. Demko isn't capable of playing 60+ games.

 

[shottasasa]

Fair enough. Good points. My only point is that Martin is putrid and if the team wants a shot at the playoffs Martin will kill that if he's the backup. Demko isn't capable of playing 60+ games.

Yeah, I can’t say that Martin is the answer with confidence. Though I do think he was put in an awful position last year, the Canucks defensive game was truly awful. I’m hoping that whoever is in net won’t have to go through that. A good team defence with careful attention to covering a goalies worst weaknesses can make a huge difference to how a goalie looks. There are a few teams in this years playoffs showing that.

In an ideal world I’d like to see workload breakdown that looks something like this in the regular season:

NHL
Demko: 52 games
Martin/backup: 22 games
Silovs: 8 games

Silovs gets dropped in for an occasional spot while taking the bulk of the games in tue AHL.

 

[Deeds26]

In honour of Latvia naming today a national day off, I proclaim that today should be an HF day off (from work), Happy Silovs Day everybody!

 

[VanJack]

If nothing else, Silovs is going to come to training camp with his confidence at an all-time high.

Unless the Canucks splurge on an expensive, veteran backup goalie, I can't see how Silovs isn't at least the No. 2 guy in Vancouver.

If this team thinks they can play Martin for 30-40 games and still make the playoffs, they're living in fantasyland.

 

[Guardian452]

While the last 4-5 months has Silovs trending the in the right direction, he needs to have a full season like Dustin Wolf had last year in the AHL before we should anoint him as the Canucks goalie of the future.

 

[MS]

Think there’s a clear top 5 all pretty interchangeable.

Askarov
Wolf
Silovs
Levi
Wallstedt

A nice two months and a great 7-game tournament doesn't catch him up to players who have years of top play to establish themselves as elite prospects.

 

[vancityluongo]

A nice two months and a great 7-game tournament doesn't catch him up to players who have years of top play to establish themselves as elite prospects.

that's exactly what it took for olli juolevi to get drafted top-5

 

[VanJack]

While the last 4-5 months has Silovs trending the in the right direction, he needs to have a full season like Dustin Wolf had last year in the AHL before we should anoint him as the Canucks goalie of the future.

He's already had a full season in Abbotsford; was voted the Abbotsford Canucks MVP; and was one of the top goalies in the AHL. What's he going to accomplish playing another year in the minors? He's already as good as Dustin Wolf and is probably a better overall prospect.

If he falters in Vancouver to start the season, they can always send him back down. But my suspicion is that once he gets the crease in Vancouver, he won't give it back.

 

[Wry n Ginger]

A nice two months and a great 7-game tournament doesn't catch him up to players who have years of top play to establish themselves as elite prospects.

He had the talent. He missed the opportunity to establish himself because of the covid years. He is trending as a very high end starter goalie. He needs to be in Abby for most of the year to establish patterns and habits needed for a starter goalie in 2 years at the NHL level.

 

[Petey But Really Jim]

He's already had a full season in Abbotsford; was voted the Abbotsford Canucks MVP; and was one of the top goalies in the AHL. What's he going to accomplish playing another year in the minors? He's already as good as Dustin Wolf and is probably a better overall prospect.

If he falters in Vancouver to start the season, they can always send him back down. But my suspicion is that once he gets the crease in Vancouver, he won't give it back.

So you have Silovs elbowing his way past Demko in 2023-2024?

 

[604]

While the last 4-5 months has Silovs trending the in the right direction, he needs to have a full season like Dustin Wolf had last year in the AHL before we should anoint him as the Canucks goalie of the future.

If he earns a spot, it’ll be hard to deny him.

Remember, he makes $70k in the minors and $775k in the show. I’d be pissed if I felt like my boss screwed me out of the job I earned which in turn cost me $700k.

There’s a competitive human element here, if he earns the backup job, it should be his.

 

[VanJack]

If he earns a spot, it’ll be hard to deny him.

Remember, he makes $70k in the minors and $775k in the show. I’d be pissed if I felt like my boss screwed me out of the job I earned which in turn cost me $700k.

There’s a competitive human element here, if he earns the backup job, it should be his.

Didn't factor in the huge pay discrepancy between the AHL and NHL. If Silovs is indeed their 'goaltender of the future' then they have to do right by him--and give him enough games in the NHL to at least earn a decent pay-check.

Martin, on the other hand, will earn $775,000 whether he plays in the minors or with the Canucks. If Silovs falters in Vancouver, they can simply swap backup goalies.

 

[sting101]

Yes it's still a small sample size to be putting too much stock into him being a excellent NHL back up at this stage and if he's not clearly the best option in camp then he should be in Abbotsford for at least 30-40 games to show he's ready. As a 22yr old he needs to play lots to continue to grow his game and consistency of high end performances

As far as the Juolevi joke ...what he's done is at the professional level where the next step is NHL so it's a vastly different arc in terms of what his trend of play represents. Obviously goalies are hard to predict so ill be cautiously optimistic but am extremely pleased to have a big goalie prospect arcing steeply uphill.

 

[Zarpan]

He's already had a full season in Abbotsford; was voted the Abbotsford Canucks MVP; and was one of the top goalies in the AHL. What's he going to accomplish playing another year in the minors? He's already as good as Dustin Wolf and is probably a better overall prospect.

That seems to be a pretty optimistic take. I like Silovs a lot, but Wolf's AHL performance has been better than Silovs, even with Silovs' improvement later in the season.

Wolf has played around 100 AHL games over the last two seasons with a save percentage close to .930. His backups have been around .900 during those two seasons. That's a case where there's nothing more to be accomplished in the minors.

 

[VanJack]

The difference between the caliber of shooters and offensive players in the NHL and the AHL is immense.

The only way for Silovs to get better now is to test himself against NHL shooters. Another year in the AHL would be a lot like 'treading water'.

 

[strattonius]

The difference between the caliber of shooters and offensive players in the NHL and the AHL is immense.

The only way for Silovs to get better now is to test himself against NHL shooters. Another year in the AHL would be a lot like 'treading water'.

That's not really true though, is it? Goalies typically develop slowly and get better through repetition and playing time.

 

[Zippgunn]

It would be SO Canucks if the Canucks banish Silovs to the AHL (thus costing him about a half million bux) and rolled with the perfectly useless Martin so stubbornly that they a) miss the playoffs by 5 points and b) piss off their best goalie prospect to the point where he seeks greener pastures elsewhere.

 

[VanJack]

Just one poster's opinion......but Silovs had earned the right to at least start the season as the Canucks backup goalie.

He was the team MVP in Abbotsford, and one of the top goalies in the AHL; and he's coming off a IIHF World Tourney where he was the leading goaltender and tournament MVP. And he got into five games with the Canucks last season, and more than held his own.

We've already seen what the Canucks look like with Martin and Delia between the pipes. If Silovs falters, you can always flip goalies and recall Martin.

But Silovs should be given the opportunity to either play his way on to the team; or prove that he's still not ready and needs another year in the minors. But it should be up to him.

 

[Vector]

Cool just to get dominated.

 

[VanJack]

Although the idea has been panned on these boards and elsewhere, it's not hard to believe that there might have been some truth to the Demko trade rumors this past season.

Demko turns 28 in December....still young for a starting goalie, but not when you factor in all the injuries and surgeries he's had throughout his career. Is he the kind of goaltender who'll age well as he enters his 30's, or his performance likely to take a dip?

What version of Demko are the Canucks getting next season? Will he be the guy who looked solid in the last few meaningless games of the season; or the guy who couldn't stop a beach ball in the first 20 games?

If you're the Canucks and you have any doubts, then trading him at the 'top of the market' and shedding a $5m salary makes more sense than anyone would care to admit.

The Kings are looking for a starter....with Korpisalo entering free agency. And they have a ton of prospects and picks to offer up. Now we also learn that John Gibson wants out of Anaheim. And of course Demko's roots are in SoCal.

When you're in the precarious position the Canucks are in--capped out with a sub-standard prospect pool--it's something that should be under consideration, unless you're absolutely convinced there will be a huge 'drop-off' from Demko to Silovs.

 

[Nucker101]

Cool just to get dominated.

The Canucks official team slogan?

 

[mossey3535]

I've come to like Silovs the more I see him. This World Championship isn't that meaningful - cool, but the level of play isn't that good.

There will still be a huge dropoff from Demko to Silovs. Maybe if he can hack 20 games we can talk but trading Demko because Silovs looks good at this moment is insanity.

 

[VanJack]

I've come to like Silovs the more I see him. This World Championship isn't that meaningful - cool, but the level of play isn't that good.

There will still be a huge dropoff from Demko to Silovs. Maybe if he can hack 20 games we can talk but trading Demko because Silovs looks good at this moment is insanity.

I think you're remembering the Demko who stood on his head and almost singlehandedly beat the Knights in the COVID playoff here.

It's been mostly downhill since then, a lot of it caused by injuries. I can't understand why nobody seems very concerned about Demko horrific start to last season. The 'drop-off' to Silovs may not be as dramatic as you think.