Vancouver Canucks trade goalie to Pittsburgh, taking another option away from Edmonton

The Canucks were one of a handful of teams that had more than 3 NHL goalies under contract, with Demko, Lankinen, and Silovs. A trade was bound to happen, and the Pittsburgh Penguins were the ones to pounce.

The Canucks took to social media to officially announce the trade this afternoon. In return, the Canucks will receive AHLer Chase Stillman and a 4th round pick.

Silovs is in the final year of contract paying only $850K to the 24 year old Latvian goaltender, who's been an up and down player for the last two seasons.

In some short stints, Silovs has been able to start games for the Canucks, racking up 19 NHL regular season games and 10 playoff starts over the last 3 years. On the whole, Silovs' NHL stats are pretty ugly, but he's coming off a stellar performance in the AHL playoffs last season.

In just 10 games last season, Silovs posted an abysmal .861 save percentage, but his goals saved above expected showed more promise. The Penguins giving up a draft pick are placing a low-risk bet that Silovs could perhaps make a jump to reach the potential of a starter.

For now though, it's also another goalie off the board for the Edmonton Oilers. They may not have been interested in Silovs who isn't even a clear upgrade on Pickard, but still the longer they wait, the fewer options they'll have in net.

Hopefully, the Oilers still have time to find a true upgrade in the crease for next year.