Canucks trade Arturs Silovs to Penguins for Chase Stillman, 2027 pick

A very interesting move involving a young and talented netminder.

On Sunday, Pittsburgh Penguins general manager Kyle Dubas announced that the team has acquired goaltender Arturs Silovs from the Vancouver Canucks. In return, the Canucks receive forward Chase Stillman and a fourth-round pick in the 2027 NHL Draft.

Silovs adds some certified goaltending depth to a Penguins team that needs some more consistency between the pipes during this transition period for the franchise. The team has Tristan Jarry and Joel Blomqvist on the books for next year, with Jarry still having three more years remaining on his contract.

Silovs will certainly have a shot at the starting job next season. He has been a solid prospect in Vancouver’s system for the past couple of seasons, coming into stardom during the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs. The Latvian backstop stepped into the starting role after Thatcher Demko and Casey DeSmith both went down with injuries. Silovs played well enough to get the Canucks to the second round, ultimately losing to the Edmonton Oilers in seven games.

This past season, Silovs had some struggles early on. With the return of Demko, he found himself back in the American Hockey League with the Canucks’ primary affiliate, the Abbotsford Canucks. He ended up playing admirably, going 14-5-1 during the regular season before leading Abbotsford to its first-ever Calder Cup title. Silovs’ impressive performance, including five shutouts in the postseason, led to him winning the Jack A. Butterfield Trophy as the most valuable player of the playoffs.

With Demko signing an extension the Canucks earlier in the offseason, and the performance of Kevin Lankinen this past year, it looked as if Silovs was going to be the odd man out in Vancouver.

In 19 NHL regular-season games, Silovas has an 8-6-2 record, with a 3.13 goals-against average and a .880 save percentage. In 110 AHL affairs, he’s posted a 59-35-12 record with a 2.58 GAA, a .906 SV% and nine shutouts.

Stillman has yet to play in the NHL. The former first-round pick of the New Jersey Devils was traded to the Penguins this past March in the deal that saw Cody Glass and Jonathan Gruden head to New Jersey.

The 22-year-old had a little bit of a down year compared to his rookie campaign in 2023-24, where he scored a career-high 14 goals and 10 assists for 24 points. Last season, he totaled four goals and eight assists for 12 points. In 119 AHL appearances, the former Peterborough Pete has amassed 18 goals and 18 assists for 36 points.

Silovs is heading into the final year of a two-year contract that he signed with the Canucks last July. It carries an NHL AAV of $850,000 and a minor-league salary of $800,000. Stillman has one more year on his entry-level contract, which has a cap hit of $863,333.