The Vancouver Canucks came into the 2023-24 season with a realistic goal of being a playoff team. Winning the Pacific Division exceeded most expectations and now reaching Game 7 in the second round against the Edmonton Oilers, the Canucks have a chance to play for a spot in the Stanley Cup Final.

The Canucks made a believer out of me early in the season by sticking to their process and consistently playing to their team identity as defined by head coach Rick Tocchet. They compete as a team, rely on strength in numbers and have needed different players to step up at critical moments throughout the season.

So far in these playoffs, that player has been Artūrs Šilovs, who was thrust into playoff action in Game 4 against Nashville after injuries to Thatcher Demko and Casey DeSmith, and hasn't looked back. It's fascinating to watch a prospect develop. Some can't elevate when the games get difficult, while others seem programmed for the big moment.

The 23-year-old Latvian has so far been up to the challenge of playoff hockey. Šilovs was a sixth-round pick of Vancouver's in 2019 and has been working his way up to this moment. And now he's set to start Monday in Game 7 against the Oilers.

Here's a look at how Šilovs has developed his game ...

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HARD WIRED

Part of the process of scouting players includes attempting to grasp their mental makeup. Does the prospect crumble under pressure? Are they capable of peak performance when dealing with distractions? Do they beat themselves up when things don’t go exactly as planned?

Questions like these are best left for the experts in the realm. With that in mind, I reached out to Larissa Mills, founder of The Mental Game Academy.

Larissa is clearly more qualified to discuss the mental side of athletic preparation than I. She holds a BA in Sociology, Psychology, and a Masters in of Science in Education and has worked with a variety of athletes, including from major junior, NCAA Division I and the professional level.

[brightcove videoID=6352928882112 playerID=JCdte3tMv height=360 width=640]

I was curious to get her feedback on Šilovs. Without diving into too much of the science, here’s what Larissa says stands out for athletes like Šilovs:

“It comes down to several factors, but the bottom line is Artūrs has a validated confidence about his game," she said. "He has proven in the past that his focus and 'ready to go' approach can be trusted.

“Some athletes lack drive but have been gifted with elite skill that can mask their deficiencies. Eventually lazy habits always catch up to athletes. They won’t deliver high end results when they matter most because they haven’t prepared.

“I think people would be surprised to hear that, in my experience, only 1 in 5 elite athletes have the ability to recognize the moment and prepare accordingly. There are several fantastic athletes in all sports scattered around the world, but the ones who rise to the occasion on the hardest days are more rare than most people recognize.”

Considering what Larissa is describing, it should come as no surprise that Šilovs doesn’t seem affected by “the moment” tending the net for the Vancouver in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

It was only last spring when Šilovs was named the MVP of the World Hockey Championship after leading Team Latvia to its first ever medal at the worlds. Šilovs finished the tournament with seven wins against two losses, and a .921 save percentage.

NHL ARRIVAL AND EVOLUTION AS A PROSPECT

Goalies generally take longer to mature than other prospects. It’s rare to see a netminder win the crease as a starter in his first contract cycle. They tend to arrive as full-time NHL contributors in their mid-20s, compared to skaters who have historically had more immediate impact entering the league in their late teens and early-20s.

Šilovs turned just 23 in March, so his arrival would certainly be described as “ahead of schedule” this spring.

NHL scouts openly admit the hardest position to scout and project is goaltender. I’m no different than my colleagues, but there are some baseline attributes that I look for in goaltenders:

• Focus
• Positioning
• Determination
• Rebound control
• Ability to respond after allowing a poor goal against
• Athletic ability: coordination, edges, balance, lateral push, crease quickness
• Puck play
• Big stops at key moments of the game

In Šilovs' case, he has presented a level of athleticism from the outset. He’s a big goalie (six-foot-four, 216 pounds) who at times doesn’t appear to be as big as he is due to his butterfly style, but he takes up a good amount of net. He has very good feet and his lateral quickness is on time. Šilovs has one of the best blocker hands of any developing NHL goalie. He anticipates very well and effectively punches pucks out of danger with his blocker.

Oftentimes, prospects simply need time to add strength to their frame. NHL players are bigger, stronger, and faster than they have ever been, so developing players need to commit to adding strength, flexibility, and more speed to their skill set. It’s a choice that some players commit to more than others.

Šilovs has worked hard to add more leg and core strength to his frame, so we'll take a look at a few examples that display how much quicker he is today compared to the past.

The first two clips are from the World Championship in 2022. Watch Šilovs as he tracks the play, but over-commits. His tracking is off, his lateral push late, and his composure compromised. By the end of the sequences Šilovs ends up on his stomach, desperately attempting to make a stop:

Another area that has improved with Šilovs is his rebound control. There was a time when he was allowing far too many second chances when he failed to absorb pucks from distance. Here’s an example of where he needed to eat a puck from distance instead of having it bound back into the play:

By the time the 2023 World Championship arrived, Šilovs won the net for Latvia. He had added much more strength over the course of the previous season.

Here are two examples from that tournament that show his improvement in crease quickness. In the first clip Šilovs does lose his balance, but jumps up efficiently to make a great save with his right pad.

In the second clip he squares up to the play and doesn’t leave his post. He fronts the puck the entire sequence:

Earlier I referenced Šilovs' fantastic blocker hand — here’s an example of how quick he bats pucks out of mid-air on his blocker side from back in 2023:

And today, proving that his blocker hand is an area of strength, here’s a clip from this year’s playoff series versus Edmonton:

Finally, here’s a clip from this playoff series that shows how well Šilovs tracks the play. Watch closely as he peers over opponents looking for the puck, pushes to his stick side, looks around bodies setting a screen and tracks the puck into his catching hand:

COMPETITION

Thatcher Demko has missed time dealing with injuries in the back half of this season and into the playoffs and Šilovs has stepped up to fill the void. In nine playoff starts Šilovs has a winning record (5-4) combined with a 2.89 GAA and .898 save percentage.

Those numbers aren’t elite, but the Canucks find themselves playing in Game 7 against Edmonton at home on Monday night and several of the saves that Šilovs has made have been very timely, and key to getting them here.

Demko is getting closer to healthy and if the Canucks go on to the Western Conference Final, there may yet be a chance he returns.

The good news is Vancouver seems to have a goalie in Artūrs Šilovs who isn’t afraid of the big moments. He’s clearly ready to take the next step in his development.

Demko is the Canucks' starter when healthy, without a doubt, but Šilovs isn’t going away. Šilovs is here to stay and he’s programmed to compete for the starting job in time. He’s more than just a feel good playoff story.

Screenshot 2024-05-20 at 8.27.18 AM — Canucks goalie contracts, per CapFriendly

Šilovs is a pending restricted free agent with a qualifying offer set for $814,000. It's likely he could be Vancouver's backup goalie from the outset next season, with DeSmith set for unrestricted free agency. It will be interesting to see what sort of contract the Latvian works out with the Canucks, if it's some kind of bridge deal that makes him affordable over a few years, and how that could later factor into how the Canucks proceed with Demko, if Šilovs continues to improve the way he has.

Scout's Analysis: The evolution of Canucks goaltender Arturs Silovs

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