Arturs Silovs

Born in Riga, Latvia, on March 22, 2001, Arturs Silovs grew up watching Dinamo Riga — the former club of legendary Latvian goalie Arturs Irbe — before eventually setting his sights on the NHL. The Vancouver Canucks selected him in the sixth round, first pick of that round, at the 2019 NHL Entry Draft. He was 208 pounds and stood 6'4" when he made his way to North America, where his development would unfold through the Canucks' organizational system.

Silovs started playing hockey around age three and became a full-time goaltender at eight, on what he described as one of the worst teams in Latvia — a circumstance he later credited as formative. "That was good for me because we didn't really have a good team," he told InGoal. "It was probably one of the worst teams, so it was a lot of shots. It was fun." He had a goalie coach from the beginning, learning fundamental movements from the start. When he arrived in North America, he worked with then-Canucks goalie coach Ian Clark and goaltending development coach Curtis Sanford, and described a meaningful shift in his approach. "I got more technical for sure when I came to Vancouver," he said. "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." ^[1]

His first taste of NHL action came in the 2022-23 season, when he appeared in five games for Vancouver, going 3-2 with a 2.75 goals-against average and a .908 save percentage. That same season, in the spring of 2023, Silovs turned in a performance at the World Championships in Finland that brought Latvia into the hockey world's wider conversation. He was named tournament MVP after backstopping Latvia to a bronze medal over the United States — the country's first-ever medal at the event — making 40 saves in a 4-3 overtime victory to close with a .921 save percentage across the tournament. He was just the fifth goalie to receive the MVP award since it was first given out in 1999. The celebration extended well beyond the ice: 50,000 people gathered at the Freedom Monument in Riga to welcome Silovs and his teammates home. ^[2]

His first NHL win came against the Philadelphia Flyers in a 37-save performance that made him one of only six Latvian goalies to play an NHL game at that point. "I actually really didn't know that but it's always a great feeling," Silovs said. "Not too many players from Latvia have played in the NHL and it's a big honor, honoring my own country." ^[1]

InGoal Magazine has covered Arturs Silovs in one podcast appearance, five drill breakdowns, and two InGoal articles. His first appearance on InGoal Radio, Episode 205, came shortly after that first win — a conversation about his path and the historic World Championships run that InGoal subscribers can access at ^[3]. A 2026 InGoal article by Colin Hodd delves into his Olympic debut with Latvia, his game-day preparation habits, and how he describes the trust he has built in his technical foundation — available to InGoal readers at ^[1].

During the 2023-24 season, Silovs appeared in four games for Vancouver, going 3-0 with a 2.47 goals-against average. His most prominent moment that spring came in the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs, when he carried Vancouver through a 10-game playoff run. In Game 7 against the Edmonton Oilers, Silovs made a rebound save less than two minutes into the game that drew attention league-wide, even as Vancouver fell 3-2 to end their season. InGoal's Kevin Woodley examined that specific save and the Canucks' "Hand in Support" drill progression that underpins that kind of coverage — a piece that connects directly to earlier drill content featuring Silovs ^[4].

That playoff run was documented in context through InGoal's series of Pro Drills filmed with Silovs during his development years with the Canucks. Canucks goalie development coach Marko Torenius and then-goalie development coach Curtis Sanford — who later moved to the Toronto Maple Leafs — both appear in sessions with Silovs, working on plays behind the net, post entries and exits, crease rotations, and managing desperation moments. InGoal members can access those drill breakdowns at ^[5], ^[2], ^[6], ^[7], and ^[8].

The 2024-25 season brought a downturn in his NHL numbers: 10 games with Vancouver, a 2-6 record, a 3.65 goals-against average and an .861 save percentage. At the AHL level with Abbotsford, however, Silovs had the most productive postseason of any goalie in the AHL — logging approximately 1,500 playoff minutes, 364 more than the next goalie on the list, a total that exceeded any AHL playoff goalie in the past decade except Joey Daccord in 2023. He won a Calder Cup championship with Abbotsford and was named playoff MVP. ^[1]

Despite that AHL success, Silovs was traded to the Pittsburgh Penguins ahead of the 2025-26 season. Wearing number 37, he has appeared in 39 games in Pittsburgh through the current season, going 19-12-8 with a 3.07 goals-against average, an .888 save percentage, and 2 shutouts — pushing his NHL career totals to 58 games played, 27 wins, 20 losses, 10 overtime losses, a 3.09 goals-against average, an .886 save percentage, and 2 shutouts across 3,338:13 minutes of ice time.

Silovs also represented Latvia at the 2026 Olympics — an appearance he shared with two of the other six Latvian-born NHL goaltenders: Elvis Merzlikins of the Columbus Blue Jackets and Kristers Gudlevskis. InGoal's Colin Hodd covered that Olympic debut and the preparation habits Silovs relies on, including the philosophy he described plainly: "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." ^[1]