All apologies to managing editor David Quadrelli; the voting public simply did not share his belief that Arturs Silovs would play more NHL games than Spencer Martin. We’re not really sure if this was an anti-goalie guild type of alliance formed by Chris Faber to take Quads down. Or if the voting public simply saw the acquisition of Casey DeSmith as irreparably damaging to the potential of Silovs playing more NHL games than Martin.

Following Elliotte Friedman’s report that the Avalanche were in the market for a backup netminder, it didn’t take long for two and two to get put together. It’s no surprise Martin has fallen out of favour with Canucks management following his disastrous sophomore campaign with the club. Though the blame for his sophomore slump can’t squarely be laid at Martin’s feet, the team was atrocious defensively whenever he was between the pipes; it’s understandable why management would look for a safer bet in goal. Arturs Silovs showed well during his NHL cup of coffee. But this management group clearly doesn’t want to bet on a small sample size like they did with Spencer Martin in 2021-22.

Adding insult to injury was Martin’s omission from the club’s Team Blue vs. Team White scrimmage on Saturday. The absence all but cemented Martin’s place on the goaltending depth chart. Should the club find a change of scenery for Martin, it stands to reason that Martin can and will play more NHL games than Silovs. Unfortunately, those games might come for a team not named Vancouver.

Had David’s Hot Take included the caveat that Silovs will play more NHL games for the Vancouver Canucks than Spencer Martin will this season, he may have survived another week of Hot Take Survivor. Alas, he did not. Or if he did, I definitely forgot to transcribe that in our voting forms.

But, as acting Jeff Probst of this here competition, I refuse to take ownership of my mistakes.

Therefore, David Quadrelli has been eliminated.