Arturs Silovs

Born in Riga, Latvia, on March 22, 2001, Arturs Silovs was selected by the Vancouver Canucks in the sixth round, first pick of that round, at the 2019 NHL Draft. He is 6'4" and catches left. He currently wears number 37 for the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Silovs grew up playing hockey from around age three and became a full-time goalie at eight. He started on what he described as one of the weakest teams in his area, which meant facing a high volume of shots from an early age. "That was good for me because we didn't really have a good team," he said in Building an Olympian. "It was probably one of the worst teams, so it was a lot of shots. It was fun. If you think now, maybe it wouldn't be fun because of how many goals you let in back then but for progression it was really good." He had a goalie coach from the beginning in Latvia who focused on foundational skills. "He really taught me a lot of stuff, you know. Simple stuff, but it's like, what do you really need as a kid? When you're a kid, you don't need to overthink too much stuff," Silovs said. "Just like, you know, just controlling rebounds, simple movements like T-pushes." Growing up, he watched a lot of Dinamo Riga — the former club of Arturs Irbe — before shifting to more NHL viewing, with Andrei Vasilevskiy and Henrik Lundqvist among his favorites to study.

After joining the Vancouver organization, Silovs worked with goalie coach Ian Clark and then-Abbotsford development coach Curtis Sanford. "I got more technical for sure when I came to Vancouver," he told Building an Olympian. "Before that I wasn't that technical, I was a more athletic goalie. But here they helped me a lot to be more compact, be technical, right? So, I can use my athleticism as a last resort." That shift in approach built into a daily process he came to rely on. "Because we're doing it every single day, it's already a habit, and then you start to see it's working in games and you're starting to trust that process, and then you understand, you trust your foundation," he said.

His first NHL win came against the Philadelphia Flyers on a 37-save performance, making him one of just six Latvian goalies to play in an NHL game at that point Building an Olympian. His first InGoal Radio appearance came shortly after that game InGoal Radio Episode 205 with Arturs Silovs and Samuel Ersson. "Not too many players from Latvia have played in the NHL and it's a big honor, honoring my own country," he said.

The spring of 2023 brought a defining moment. Silovs backstopped Latvia to a bronze medal at the World Championships in Finland — the first-ever medal for the country at the event — making 40 saves in a 4-3 overtime win over the United States in the bronze medal game and finishing the tournament with a .921 save percentage. He was named tournament MVP, becoming just the fifth goalie to receive that award since it was first given out in 1999 Pro Drills featuring Latvian Hero Arturs Silovs. Approximately 50,000 people gathered at the Freedom Monument in Riga to welcome Silovs and his teammates home Pro Drills featuring Latvian Hero Arturs Silovs.

InGoal documented his work during that period extensively. A drill series captured with Canucks goaltending development coach Marko Torenius and fellow Canucks goalie Spencer Martin showed Silovs working on around-the-net control, post entries and exits, and power play situation reads Pro Drills with Arturs Silovs and Spencer MartinPro Drills featuring Latvian Hero Arturs Silovs. Earlier sessions with then-Canucks development coach Curtis Sanford — filmed before Sanford moved to become goalie coach for the Toronto Maple Leafs — covered reverse tracking on plays behind the net, hand-in-support coverage under desperation conditions, and quick lateral plays in tight Pro Drills featuring Curtis Sanford and Arturs SilovsPro Drills featuring Curtis Sanford Spencer Martin and Arturs SilovsPro Drills featuring Curtis Sanford and Arturs Silovs. Sanford described the intent behind that work in one session: "Is it a time where we can buy a critical save by learning to put ourselves in the best situation to defend these plays of chaos," adding that the workload was intentionally placed late in practice, after full sessions, to simulate game fatigue Pro Drills featuring Curtis Sanford and Arturs Silovs.

In the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs, Silovs started for Vancouver in a 10-game playoff run that ended in a Game 7 loss to the Edmonton Oilers. Less than two minutes into that game, he made a rebound save that InGoal highlighted as one of the standout saves of the playoffs Arturs Silovs Incredible Game 7 Save. Canucks goalie coach Ian Clark connected the play directly to the hand-in-support drill work the team had practiced: "You can refer to the term desperation but there is also logic behind how we build our coverages, and one of the great indicators of high goaltending IQ is the selection of coverages that happens under duress in a critical moment," Clark said Arturs Silovs Incredible Game 7 Save.

In 2025, Silovs won a Calder Cup AHL championship and was named playoff MVP. He logged more minutes during that AHL playoff run than any goalie in the past decade except Joey Daccord in 2023, playing nearly 1,500 minutes — 364 more than the next goalie on the list Building an Olympian. He then made his Olympic debut representing Latvia in 2026, joining teammates Elvis Merzlikins of Columbus and Kristers Gudlevskis among the group of Latvian goalies who have played in the NHL Building an Olympian.

In his pre-game preparation, Silovs described arriving at the rink early and using the surrounding atmosphere to shift into a game mindset. "I'm just stretching, taking my time," he said. "I think it's more about getting early to the rink so it's like all the atmosphere around you is preparing you and just getting into it" Building an Olympian. He also emphasized physical readiness as foundational: "You don't want to get injured. So that's the most important thing to do. Before the games, before the practices. You don't want to be out like, you know, for a long time because it's your life and you want to build your career, right" Building an Olympian.

Now with the Pittsburgh Penguins, Silovs has appeared in 38 games in 2025-26, going 19-11-8 with a 3.04 goals-against average, a .889 save percentage, and 2 shutouts. Across his NHL career, he has appeared in 57 games, posting a 27-19-10 record, a 3.07 goals-against average, a .886 save percentage, and 2 shutouts. InGoal Magazine has covered Arturs Silovs in one podcast appearance, five drill breakdowns, and two InGoal articles.