Nikita Tolopilo

Born in Minsk, Belarus on April 6, 2000, Nikita Tolopilo stands 6-foot-6 and weighs 229 pounds — dimensions that make him one of the larger goaltenders in the Vancouver Canucks organization. He catches left and wears number 60.

Tolopilo's NHL career began with two appearances for the Canucks during the 2024-25 season, in which he went 1-1 with a 2.15 goals-against average and a .885 save percentage. The 2025-26 season has brought a substantially larger workload: through 21 games, he carries a 6-11-2 record, a 3.61 GAA, and a .881 save percentage, bringing his career NHL totals to 23 games played, 7 wins, 12 losses, 2 overtime losses, a 3.51 GAA, and a .882 save percentage across 1,229 minutes and 20 seconds of ice time.

InGoal Magazine has covered Nikita Tolopilo in one podcast appearance and one InGoal article. He joined host David Hutchison on episode 234 of the InGoal Radio podcast in November 2023 ^[1]. Following that conversation, InGoal's Kevin Woodley took a closer look at something spotted sitting atop Tolopilo's equipment bag — a modified stick grip that drew an immediate question ^[2].

The setup involves a combination of standard stick tape and grip tape, creating a knob at the top of the shoulder of his Warrior stick, at the point where it connects to the shaft. Contrary to what one might assume, Tolopilo does not wrap his fingers around the knob. He keeps his entire hand below it, with most of his hand down on the paddle. "Your blocker covers more," Tolopilo explained of the angle the grip creates ^[2]. Woodley's piece draws a parallel to how Sergei Bobrovsky holds his stick with the Florida Panthers, and notes a similar philosophy in the custom stick work of Henrik Lundqvist. A video included in the article shows Tolopilo working through a recovery and rotation drill with Vancouver goalie development coach Marko Torenius at an Abbotsford Canucks practice in the AHL. The full breakdown of the grip and how it functions is available to readers at InGoal ^[2].