The Pittsburgh Penguins make a trade with the Vancouver Canucks, sending Chase Stillman and pick to acquire goaltender Arturs Silovs.
Silovs is a 24-year-old 2019 sixth-round pick. He’s played in 19 NHL games across the past three seasons, with a combined record of 8-8-2.
The Vancouver Story
For the Vancouver Canucks, the emergence of Kevin Lankinen pushed Arturs Silovs aside in the organizational depth chart. The organization has already been employing star goaltender Thatcher Demko for a number of years. With his persistent injury concerns, the Canucks diversified their goaltending pipeline to ensure a quality netminder in Demko’s absence. While both Silovs and Lankinen got chances at the NHL level in 2024-25, Lankinen stole the show. He went 25-15-10, acting as the starter in Demko’s stead. Lankinen signed a five-year extension valued at a $4.5m AAV. As the 2025 Free Agency period was set to open, the Canucks then extended Thatcher Demko. His deal runs from 2026-27 to 2028-29, with an AAV of $8.5m per season. These moves made Silovs redundant in the Canucks system.
In Chase Stillman, the Canucks acquire the rights to a career-AHL winger. Stillman split 65 games between the Wilkes-Barre Penguins and Utica Comet in 2024-25. In these games, the former first-round pick scored four goals and eight assists for 12 points. In addition to Stillman, the Canucks get a 2027 fourth-round pick, adding to the two they already had.
The Pittsburgh Story
This is certainly an interesting move from the Penguins’ end. It comes off the back of the Alex Nedeljkovic trade. Goaltender Nedeljkovic was moved to the San Jose Sharks for a 2028 third-round pick. This left the Penguins professional pipeline a little light. Tristan Jarry will be the starting netminder for the team in 2025-26. However, the backup position is wide open. Competing with Silovs will be young prospects Joel Blomqvist and Sergei Murashov. Blomqvist went 8-7-3 with the Wilkes-Barre Penguins last season, posting a .914 save percentage. Behind him, Sergei Murashov has quickly increased his stock as a prospect. Debuting in North America last season, Murashov spent time in the ECHL and AHL. After going 17-7-1 with the Wheeling Nailers, Murashov would go 12-3 in his limited appearances with the Wilkes-Barre Penguins.
The addition of Calder Cup Champion Arturs Silovs ensures a ton of competition at this years training camp. Silovs and Blomqvist will battle it out for an NHL back-up position, while Murashov looks to cement himself as an AHL back-up. With NHL starter Tristan Jarry‘s struggles in recent years, there exists an opportunity for Silovs or the other goaltenders to fight for additional minutes as well.
Main Photo Credit: Bob Frid-Imagn Images
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