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The Vancouver Canucks’ goalie production line continues apace. How does 2024-25 look for Thatcher Demko, Arturs Silovs and their ilk?
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Published May 31, 2024 • Last updated 16 hours ago • 6 minute read
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Vancouver Canucks goalie Arturs Silovs. Photo by David Bloom /David Bloom/Postmedia
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Arturs Silovs’s start in the Stanley Cup playoffs not only gave Vancouver Canucks fans something to cheer for, but he also pushed the conversation around the future of the crease in this town in a new direction.
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Thatcher Demko remains the man, but goalies play the most physically demanding position in North American pro sports, and durability is a question mark for all of them.
One day the crease won’t be Demko’s. Obviously, the Canucks hope that day is a long way off. But they would be foolish not to also think about the what-ifs.
And Silovs’ solid play provides plenty of fodder for the what-if game.
Today is the third and final part of our three-part review of the Canucks’ roster inventory. We have already looked at the forwards and the defencemen, so today we take a look at the goalies.
The story lines here are pretty obvious and pretty well-known to Canucks fans, but there are a couple further items worth considering.
Let’s dive in.
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Vancouver Canucks goalie Arturs Silovs speaks during the NHL hockey team’s end of season news conference, in Vancouver, B.C., Thursday, May 23, 2024. Photo by DARRYL DYCK /THE CANADIAN PRESS
Under contract and going nowhere
Thatcher Demko, Arturs Silovs
Demko’s season was truly remarkable. His play was so stellar, he is a finalist for the Vezina Trophy as the NHL’s best goalie.
It’s a deserved honour.
After he struggled in the first half of 2022-23, he rebounded back to his classic form last spring and indeed improved upon that performance this season.
With the Canucks developing into a stout defensive unit in front of Demko, the resurgent netminder leapt forward in form into the goalie most thought he could be.
That’s great for the Canucks.
But, of course, the question now is about durability. For two years in a row he has suffered substantial injuries to important joints.
He will be 29 years old in December. He plays the position as hard as anyone in the game. And the demands that modern goaltending places on the body are extreme.
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On paper, you would think he is going to be a reliable player, year over year, if he’s healthy.
But that’s actually rarely the case. There is all kinds of data that says goalie performance, for whatever reason, rarely repeats year over year, even for the game’s best netminders.
Yes, there are some outliers — the very best of the best — but even keeping yourself in the outlier window for more than a few seasons is a hard thing to do.
Demko doesn’t like to be thought of as injury-prone, but given the last two seasons, there is plenty of reason to think he should be playing less that he has.
Vancouver Canucks’ goalie Thatcher Demko talks to media during end of season media avalability at Rogers Arena in Vancouver, B.C., on May 23, 2024. Photo by NICK PROCAYLO /10104823A
Which brings us to Silovs.
The quiet Latvian was fantastic in the 2024 Stanley Cup playoffs.
He wasn’t night-in night-out elite — see especially his struggles with tracking long shots — but pushed onto the big stage all the way from number-three on the depth chart, he performed admirably.
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And if the Canucks are able to play as well defensively next season as this past season, that’s going to be a fantastic environment for him to compete in, assuming he is handed the backup’s role.
Of course, the more eyes on him at the NHL level the more his weaknesses could be exposed. That is surely some of the reason there’s so much variance in performance for most goalies, year to year.
That is the task for Silovs now. How does he adapt to ongoing NHL pressure?
He handled a month in the playoff cauldron, but what about the monotony of the regular season.
And of course, the Canucks could yet decide they would like another goalie with NHL experience in the fold, whether that’s bringing back Casey DeSmith or looking at another veteran.
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The free agent
Casey DeSmith
DeSmith was the best backup in the Canucks fold in a decade. He never was going to push Demko out of the top spot, but just about every time he stood in the crease, he did exactly what you want your backup to be — reliable.
Sure, there were goals here and there that you knew Demko might have stopped. But never did you think, “Oh no, this is guaranteed to go badly.”
DeSmith gave his team a chance to win.
But he is a backup goalie, and backup goalies are only in their job so long as they are better than the alternatives.
And in Silovs, that’s no longer the case.
DeSmith’s post-season story is a reminder of how quickly your moment can pass.
After Thatcher Demko was knocked out of the playoffs right off the bat, it was DeSmith who stepped into the breach. And he was plenty good filling in for two games.
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Then he tweaked his groin, nothing major, but enough to cause his team some concern and like that, he was out of the crease, never to return.
His last start, though, is one for the CV. He made 29 saves backstopping the Canucks to a 2-1 in over the Predators. He was less than four minutes away from a shutout.
The stats page shows that he managed just a 89.6 save percentage this season, the lowest of his career, but a large part of that was driven by three brutal losses late in the season: he yielded eight goals to Minnesota in March and six goals in back to back games vs. Vegas and Los Angeles.
All three games were among the weakest defensive performances of the season by the Canucks.
Take those three away and DeSmith year was plenty strong.
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Maybe the Canucks will bring him back, but if they don’t, there’s little doubt he’ll be finding work somewhere.
Casey DeSmith during an end of season media avalability at Rogers Arena in Vancouver, B.C., on May 23, 2024. Photo by NICK PROCAYLO /10104823A
Under contract, but where?
Nikita Tolopilo
The giant Belarusian had a breakout season in the AHL, his first in North American and his first in the Canucks’ organization.
Signed last summer after a couple strong seasons in the SHL, Tolopilo obviously took quickly to the Ian Clark-Marko Torenius school of goaltending.
At times he was outplaying Silovs in Abbotsford. There’s little doubt Clark is high on Tolopilo’s long-term potential.
If Silovs does end up backing up in Vancouver, Tolopilo will get plenty of opportunity to further grow his game in Abbotsford.
Even if Silovs is back in Abbotsford, it’s safe to say that the two will both get plenty of ice time in a tandem setup as well.
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Long-term, if Tolopilo continues his ascendance, he’s going to force change at the top of the Canucks’ depth chart. Of course the Canucks hope that Demko will go on forever, but he won’t.
And Silovs is a good goalie, but as everyone likes to note, goalies are voodoo and you should never bank on them carrying on.
That’s why you keep looking for the next one and if Tolopilo looks like he’s going to be the next one, the Canucks will surely start pondering the future of the two currently at the top.
Dinamo Minsk’s Nikita Tolopilo concedes a goal in their 2020/2021 Kontinental Hockey League Regular Season ice hockey match against CSKA Moscow at CSKA Arena; CSKA Moscow won 5-1. Anton Novoderezhkin/TASS Photo by Anton Novoderezhkin /ITAR-TASS
pjohnston@postmedia.com
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Courtesy : https://theprovince.com/sports/hockey/nhl/vancouver-canucks/how-arturs-silovs-changed-the-conversation-in-the-canucks-net