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Jim Rutherford's Shocking Comments Trigger Imminent Trade of Canucks' Top Goalie

Originally posted on Blade of Steel | By Daniel Lucente | Last updated Jul 13, 2025 1:12 PM ET

Canucks Team President Jim Rutherford recently stated that it appears goalie Arturs Silovs will be the odd man out after signing their other two top goalies.

The injury-prone ace netminder Thatcher Demko has agreed with the Vancouver Canucks on a massive extension recently, and that was shortly after the off-season signing of Kevin Lankinen.

The two signings effectively end the future of young aspiring goalie Arturs Silovs.

Now, being an NHLer, Arturs Silovs would have to go through the procedure of being waived in order to get optioned down to the Abbotsford Canucks of the AHL, a team that he guided all the way to the Calder Cup Finals, winning the AHL Playoffs MVP in the process, as well as winning the championship series.

It was just a year ago that Silovs was an emerging NHL playoff star, replacing an injured Thacther Demko and sending the Nashville Predators packing with the Canucks.

Silovs guided the Canucks to the third round of last year's playoffs

He also gave the eventual Western Conference finalists difficult games with his performances against the Edmonton Oilers, taking the eventual Stanley Cup finalists to a difficult Game 7.

Silovs, 24, is the most NHL-ready prospect among goalies in the league. Being that gifted and having playoff experience, it is highly unlikely that he'd be waived and go unclaimed.

Their president, Jim Rutherford, did see the tough situation unfolding, honestly saying that the future of Silovs lies elsewhere beyond the Canadian city.

'We have some very, very good young goalies coming. Right now in our development camp, we've got Young and we've got Medvedev; those two guys are going to be very good NHL goalies someday.
We've got things lined up here. Our plan going forward, right now, is to go with Demko and Lankinen. As well as Silovs played, he could be the odd guy out. He's not waiver exempt anymore. So, we're going to have to deal with that here in the offseason, but we feel very fortunate where we are with goaltenders.'

- Jim Rutherford

It is a challenging situation for the fans to accept, but the Canucks strong pool of goalies means Silovs is the odd one out, and the Canucks would much rather acquire something for him than lose him for nothing.

This article first appeared on Blade of Steel and was syndicated with permission.

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