Last week, the Pittsburgh Penguins made a surprise trade with the Vancouver Canucks when they acquired goaltender Arturs Silovs in exchange for Chase Stillman and a fourth round pick in 2027.

If you don’t know who Stillman is, I don’t blame you. He was acquired in a deadline deal with New Jersey, where the Penguins sent Cody Glass further east as one of five pieces moving in the trade.

The 22-year-old Stillman played 19 games for Pittsburgh’s AHL affiliate in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton down the stretch, registering three points. He also appeared in each of the AHL Penguins’ postseason appearances.

Silovs has 19 regular season NHL games to his name spread over the last three seasons. In that combined time, he is 8-8-2 with an .880 save percentage and 3.13 goals against average.

Silovs played a career-high ten NHL games this past season, where he struggled to a 2-6-1 record with a .861 save percentage and 3.65 goals against average. It was not his best work, but he was playing on a Canucks team that was having a down year.

You might best know Silovs for his work in the Stanley Cup Playoffs two years ago. When injuries took out starter Thatcher Demko and backup Casey DeSmith, Silovs was ushered into action midway through the first round of Vancouver’s series against Nashville.

For being a 22-year-old, inexperienced netminder who never expected to have to suit up, he played pretty well. He helped the Canucks secure the final two wins against the Predators, who were perhaps the NHL’s hottest team in the second half of the season. Silovs pitched a shutout in the series clincher.

In the second round, against Connor McDavid and the Edmonton Oilers, Silovs did all that he could. Vancouver pushed the Oilers to seven games, but Silovs and the Canucks lost 3-2 in the final game.

Silovs put up a .898 save percentage in ten starts during that run, going 5-4-1. Though it wasn’t a star-level performance, he did admirable work for someone in his position.

What Silovs lacks in general NHL success, however, he more than makes up for in impressive work in the American Hockey League.

He went 14-5-2 with the Abbotsford Canucks last season, putting up a 2.47 goals against average and .908 save percentage. Silovs has put up a save percentage north of .900 for each of the three AHL seasons he has played so far in his career.

More importantly, Silovs is coming off of an incredible Calder Cup run, where he backstopped Abbotsford to their first ever AHL championship. In 24 games, Silovs put up a .931 save percentage and 2.01 goals against average. His efforts won him the Jack A. Butterfield Trophy as playoff MVP.

If there was ever a time to acquire Silovs, it was right now.

Silovs also has quite the established résumé on the world stage. Back in 2023, he won Best Goaltender and MVP at the World Championships, where his native Latvia took bronze.

His acquisition makes the goaltending depth chart in Pittsburgh a little more crowded. After the team traded Alex Nedeljkovic to San Jose, Joel Blomqvist was next in line to take on the backup job behind Tristan Jarry.

Blomqvist, a second round pick by the Penguins in 2020, made his NHL debut last season and played 15 total games for the team. He struggled, with a 3.81 goals against average and a .885 save percentage.

He made mistakes typical of a rookie goaltender, but he was also routinely left out to dry by a poor defense in front of him. Playing in front of a team that finished tied for third in goals against, the 23-year-old Blomqvist was more or less set up to fail in the cage.

Silovs, by nature of having slightly more NHL experience and the amazing AHL run this spring, probably leapfrogs Blomqvist in the pecking order. At 24, he should be ready for a backup job in the NHL, and in a place like Pittsburgh (where there is little pressure to win next season), he can work out some of the mistakes that a young goaltender will inevitably make.

Even if Silovs gets pole position ahead of Blomqvist, it isn’t a done deal. The Penguins are still invested in his development, and his AHL numbers over the last few years suggest he is worthy of, at very least, a much larger sample size in the NHL.

Last season across the state, Blomqvist had much more respectable numbers: a 2.84 goals against average and a .914 save percentage in 18 games. Two years ago, Blomqvist had a stellar season in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, recording a 2.16 goals against average and a .921 save percentage in 45 games.

This depth and potential training camp battle is a great thing for the Penguins. If there’s any position where sometimes a team needs to throw everything at the wall and see what sticks, it’s goaltending.

Problems between the pipes have plagued Pittsburgh for years. Jarr, has been the poster child for that since general manager Kyle Dubas signed him to a five-year extension in 2023 that sees him account for $5.375 million against the cap.

In all likelihood, Jarry won’t be a member of the organization when the next contention window fully opens.

Sergei Murashov, the 21-year-old who had an impressive season split between the AHL and ECHL last season, remains a part of the team’s long-term strategy. But even if Murashov pans out to the highest of the front office’s expectations, he will need someone alongside him.

This fall could help determine who that is. Earlier in the summer, we all had Blomqvist penciled in for that role. Now, Silovs will throw his hat into the ring, creating competition and added depth at hockey’s most important position.

And the organization will be better off for it.