When Arturs Silovs was drafted 156th overall by the Vancouver Canucks, not many people knew much about him. He wasn’t on NHL’s Central Scouting list and was playing over in Latvia for HS Riga. Luckily for Vancouver, they decided to take a chance on the young Latvian goaltender, who has developed into one of the organization’s top prospects.
Silovs’ Development Since Being Drafted
After Silovs was drafted by the Canucks, he joined the Barrie Colts of the Ontario Hockey League (OHL). Listed at 6-foot-4, 203 pounds, he went 16-13-4 with a .891% save percentage in 36 games. His stay in the OHL would get cut short, unfortunately, as COVID would shut down the remainder of the season. With the OHL also canceling the entire 2020-21 season, it would mean he would leave junior and head straight to the pros.
The 2020-21 season was tough for a lot of young goaltenders, including Silovs, who played in less than ten games all season. He also wouldn’t get a ton of time with Vancouver’s coaching staff, as he was loaned to the Manitoba Moose during the season. While this was not an ideal situation, he continued to develop his game in practice against American Hockey League (AHL) players and even got the opportunity to play in his first pro North American game that season.
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In Solovs’ third season with the Canucks, he finally had the opportunity to represent the organization, playing ten games with the Abbotsford Canucks. While he was later sent down to the ECHL to finish out his season, the most important was that he actually got to play in games and continue his development. This was evident in his performance at the 2022 World Championships later that year, as he went 2-2 with a .952 save percentage (SV%) for Latvia, which included standing on his head in a 1-0 loss to Sweden, where he stopped 34 of the 35 shots he faced.
Silovs Arrived in 2022-23
After a stellar Young Stars tournament that included a shutout against the Calgary Flames, there was a lot of hype surrounding Silovs heading into the 2022-23 season. While he didn’t start the first game of the season for Abbotsford in the AHL, he started seven of the first ten games of the season and looked ready to take over the starter’s job. For the next few months, he would continue to perform well, which included winning ten of 11 games he started from Nov. 29 to Jan. 2, showing that not only could he handle being the starter at the AHL level but thrive in that position.
With Vancouver running into goaltending injuries, Silovs would get the chance to show just how far his development had come, as he suited up for his first NHL game against the New York Rangers on Feb. 15. While the Canucks would come out on the losing end that night, he performed well against one of the NHL’s best teams, making 22 saves on 27 shots.
This performance also seemed to impress Vancouver’s coaching staff, as they would play him in three of the next four games. Over those three games, he went 2-1, allowing just two goals in each contest and registering his first-ever win in the NHL on Feb. 18 as he made 35 saves in a 6-2 win over the Philadelphia Flyers. He would play one more game for Vancouver during the season, finishing with a 3-2 record and a .908 SV% in five games at the NHL level.
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Silovs would return to the AHL and split time with Spencer Martin from March onwards. In the end, he would play 44 regular season games with Abbotsford, going 26-12-5 with a .909 sv% and four shutouts. He was also voted team MVP by the fans for what he had accomplished during the season. While he wasn’t the starter during the postseason, he had shown just how far Silovs had come in his development and that he could not just be relied upon at the AHL level but also at the NHL level if called upon.
A World Championship To Remember
After Abbotsford was eliminated from the postseason, Silovs headed home to Latvia to represent his country at the World Championship. Latvia was co-hosting the tournament, so it would give him an opportunity to play in front of his home nation’s fans. He not only represented his country with pride, but Silovs also led Latvia to their first-ever medal at the tournament, as they captured Bronze.
Just like with Abbotsford, Silovs didn’t start the first game but quickly proved he was the right man for the job, as he won six of his next seven games, which included stopping 40 of 41 shots he faced in the quarterfinals against Sweden. Despite a strong performance against Canada in the semi-finals, Latvia would have their six-game winning streak broken and would play the U.S. in the Bronze Medal Game. Like he had all season, Silvos played phenomenally and, thanks to a Kristians Rubins overtime winner, walked away as Bronze Medalist.
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Silovs numbers at the end of the tournament showed just how special a performance he had put on. He was the only goaltender to surpass the 200-save mark, making 258, and was the tournament leader in minutes played, playing in 99.19 percent of the minutes Latvia played in the tournament. For his efforts, not only was he named the tournament’s best goaltender, but he was also tournament MVP, becoming the fifth goalie to win the award since 1999.
The recognition didn’t stop there as he finished second behind Connor Bedard for the first-ever IIHF Male Player of the Year Award. While the projected first-overall pick for the upcoming 2023 NHL Entry Draft finished well ahead at 31.8 percent, Silvos finished with a respectable 19.6 percent of the vote, illustrating just how impressive his run during the tournament was. A hero in Latvia after his performance at the World Championship, there is little doubt that he has a bright future ahead of him.
What’s Next for Silovs
Heading into next season, there is little doubt that Silovs will be the number-one goaltender for Abbotsford. He is the future backup and maybe a starter for the Canucks organization, but he needs a little more time in the AHL to develop fully. If he can not just replicate but build off his overall performance from this past year, he may be ready to make the jump full-time to the NHL sooner rather than later.
