Canucks trade Artūrs Šilovs to the Penguins, clearing crease logjam

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The Arty Party’s over with the Vancouver Canucks.

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The Canucks announced Sunday that they had traded goalie Artūrs Šilovs to the Pittsburgh Penguins for forward Chase Stillman and a fourth-round pick in the 2027 NHL Draft.

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Šilovs, 24, backstopped Vancouver’s AHL Abbotsford Canucks affiliate to the Calder Cup league title this season, but the big club has Thatcher Demko, 29, and Kevin Lankinen, 30, on long-term deals and Šilovs was going to need clear waivers this season to be sent down to the minors. They could have tried to sneak him back to Abbotsford, but they ran the risk of losing him for nothing.

Šilovs was a massive fan favourite in Abbotsford, routinely having fans chant his name during the playoff run. He was voted AHL playoff most valuable player after fashioning a 16-7 record with a 2.01 goals against average and a .931 save percentage. In the regular season, he was 14-5-1, with 2.41 goals against average and a .908 save percentage.

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Vancouver brass have talked up goaltending as a position of strength, though. Nikita Tolopilo, 25, and Ty Young, 20, are in line to see duty in Abbotsford this coming season. Tolopilo and Šilovs split games in the regular season and Tolopilo was 20-14-2, with a 2.66 goals against average and a .902 save percentage.

Team president Jim Rutherford said that a Šilovs move was possible on Sportsnet 590 in Toronto on July 2, when he said that “as well as Šilovs played, he could be the odd guy out. He’s not waiver exempt anymore. We’re going to have to deal with that in the off-season.”

And general manager Patrik Allvin said on the new 100% Canucks podcast with John Shannon and Landon Ferraro on July 6: “We’ll see over the next couple of weeks if we carry the goalies to camp or if a decision is made prior to it.”

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The trade fits with market value. The Florida Panther added Daniil Tarasov, 26, on June 26 from the Columbus Blue Jackets for a fifth-round pick in the just completed NHL Draft.

Stillman, 22, is the 6-foot-1, 185-pound right shot winger who was a first-round pick (No. 29 overall) of the New Jersey Devils in 2021 and was traded last March to Pittsburgh as part of the Cody Glass deal. Stillman had three goals and nine points in 46 games with the New Jersey’s Utica Devils AHL affiliate, and then one goal and three points in 19 games with Pittsburgh’s Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins AHL side.

He’s yet to play an NHL game. PuckPedia lists Stillman as a cap hit of $863,334 and in the final year of his deal. He’ll be a restricted free agent at the end of the season.

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He’s the son of former NHLer Cory Stillman and he played junior in the OHL with both the Sudbury Wolves and Peterborough Petes.

Elite Prospects pre-draft scouting report on Stillman explained: “Call it motor or energy or engagement or drive — Stillman has it. He is willing to go above and beyond, willing to play whatever role needed to the maximum of his ability to give his team the win. He knows when to go after to try and retrieve it, and will head to the best areas of the ice to get a scoring chance off.”

Šilovs, of course, sparkled for the Canucks in the playoffs two springs ago when Demko was hurt. He had a 2.91 goals against average and .988 save percentage. In the regular season, his numbers with Vancouver are 3.13 goals against average and .880 save percentage in 19 games.

In a press release Sunday, Allvin was quoted as saying: “We would like thank Artūrs for everything he has done for the hockey club, including helping Abbotsford win the Calder Cup. We wanted to give him an opportunity elsewhere as we feel we are very well positioned in goal at the NHL, AHL and developmental level. Acquiring a future pick and depth forward will add to our organizational depth.”

sewen@postmedia.com

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