The Vancouver Canucks have a goaltending problem.
Fortunately, it’s not the same goaltending problem faced by some teams in the NHL, who can’t seem to find anyone who can keep the puck out of the net. Instead, they’ve got too many goaltenders.
The Canucks just signed Thatcher Demko to a three-year contract extension that kicks in next year that will keep him in Vancouver through the 2028-29 season. Kevin Lankinen’s contract is for five years, taking him through the 2029-30 season.
Where does that leave Arturs Silovs?
With Demko and Lankinen signed, Silovs has no path to the NHL
The 24-year-old Silovs is coming off an MVP performance in the Calder Cup Playoffs for the Abbotsford Canucks, posting a .934 save percentage with five shutouts.
It’s likely also the last time he’ll play for the Canucks organization.
The Canucks have clearly committed themselves to a goaltending tandem of Demko and Lankinen for the coming season and beyond. That leaves Silovs in the lurch, as he surely wants to play in the NHL but has no path to doing so unless one of Demko or Lankinen gets injured.
An injury might even be a likely scenario, as Demko is coming off of a major injury and has struggled to stay healthy the past few seasons. But the Canucks can’t just stash Silovs in the AHL as injury insurance, as he will no longer be exempt from waivers next season.
That leaves the Canucks with two options: trade a goaltender or risk losing Silovs on waivers.
Odds are, the Canucks are not going to trade Demko or Lankinen. They could — Lankinen has a no-movement clause for the next two seasons, but Demko’s no-movement clause doesn’t kick in until next year — but they won’t.
Technically, there is a third option: carry three goaltenders, keeping Silovs on the NHL roster as the third-string goaltender. But that’s never a good option, as goaltenders who don’t play tend to rot on the vine, and it would limit the number of forwards and defencemen they can carry on the roster.
That leaves trading Silovs.
"As well as Silovs played, he could be the odd guy out"
The Canucks’ management group seems to have come to the same conclusion, judging by their comments this week.
When general manager Patrik Allvin was asked about the Canucks’ goaltending triangle, Allvin barely mentioned Silovs at all, instead jumping to the team’s other young goaltenders, as if preemptively justifying a Silovs trade.
“We have a young goalie in Ty Young that played extremely well down there as well,” said Allvin. “We have good depth in net here and, with the addition of [Alexei Medvedev] in the draft too, we’re really positioned strong in net.”
When asked directly if he would move one of his goaltenders, Allvin fell back on his stock answer.
“We’ll see,” said Allvin. “I’m always looking for ways to improve our team and, if it makes sense and something comes available, then definitely we’ll look into it.”
Jim Rutherford, the Canucks’ president of hockey operations, had a similar response when asked about the goaltending situation on Sportsnet 590, though he was, as is his wont, a little bit more direct than Allvin.
“We have some very, very good young goalies coming,” said Rutherford. “Right now in our development camp, we’ve got Young and we’ve got Medvedev; those two guys are going to be very good NHL goalies someday.
“We’ve got things lined up here. Our plan going forward, right now, is to go with Demko and Lankinen. As well as Silovs played, he could be the odd guy out. He’s not waiver exempt anymore. So, we’re going to have to deal with that here in the offseason, but we feel very fortunate where we are with goaltenders.”
The Canucks believe they have enough goaltending depth
The message from Allvin and Rutherford seems clear: the Canucks have other young goaltenders in the system, so they can afford to trade Silovs.
The Canucks selected Medvedev in the second round of this year’s draft, and he has tremendous potential as a very young goaltender who is still growing into his frame. He’s the Canucks’ de facto goaltender of the future — far off in the future, as he’ll need a few more years of development.
Young, meanwhile, had a solid first season as a pro, splitting time between the AHL and the ECHL, posting a .904 save percentage with Abbotsford and a .926 save percentage with the Kalamazoo Wings. He’ll be looking to earn the net in Abbotsford this coming season, but he’ll have competition.
That’s another reason why Silovs is likely on his way out of town. The Canucks will more than just Young vying for starts in Abbotsford; they also have Nikita Tolopilo and Aku Koskenvuo.
Even if Silovs gets traded, the Canucks will still have to send one of Young, Tolopilo, or Koskenvuo down to the ECHL. If Silovs somehow sticks around, they’ll have a real logjam.
Unfortunately, it seems certain at this point that the Canucks will trade Silovs.
