We are back with the summer edition of our CanucksArmy top 20 Canucks prospect rankings.

If you missed it, we’ve already covered our Honourable Mentions and will now be officially kicking our list of 20 skaters.

First, let’s recap our criteria.

The first rule is that a prospect must be under the age of 25 and have played fewer than 25 NHL games. If you are expecting Vasily Podkolzin, we consider him a graduate. We also take upside, age, depth chart, and playing locations into consideration.

To kick off our list, we have Nikita Tolopilo, who’s fresh off his first season within the Canucks’ system.

Signed last March, the Belarusian netminder has proven to be quite the find for the amateur scouting staff. At times throughout the 2023-24 season, he’s even looked like the more competent starter in Abbotsford.

At 6’6, it doesn’t take long to understand what the Canucks saw in him. But he’s so much more than that. He also brings all the elements that Canucks’ goaltending guru, Ian Clark, looks for in a netminder: speed, length and athleticism.

“He provides a combination of tremendous size and skill and has developed well at the professional level the past two seasons in Sweden, serving as one of the more accomplished goaltenders in his league this year,” said Patrik Allvin when the Canucks originally signed him out of Sweden.

After cycling through various leagues in Belarus and Russia, Tolopilo found himself in a starting role at the Allsvenskan level through the years 2021-2023.

During that time, he put up a 39-38-0 record with a .912 save percentage and five shutouts with Södertälje SK. However, his second season was strong, as he posted a 28-17-0 record in 45 games, finishing fourth with a .924 save percentage and backstopped Södertälje to a fourth-place finish.

Taking a chance on an undrafted netminder always comes with its risks. However, Tolopilo showed early on that he’d fit in just fine in his new environment.

In his AHL debut, he posted 41 saves in a 4-3 victory and never looked back. He would end up going 20-13-1 in AHL play this season, putting up a 2.83 GAA and a .905 save percentage. He also finished with the fifth most wins (20) among rookie netminders.

Development and AHL Goaltending Coach Marko Torenius had high praise for the young netminder’s development midway through the season.

“You obviously like the size, but I like how he has been taking some steps and making adjustments,” Torenius told Canucks.com. “He started to be more clean with his footwork. He’s started to get his pace up. He’s started to be better in traffic situations. The overall progress has been good.”

He’s still taking those steps and adjusting himself to North American hockey. He has interesting tools, and his calmness is impressive for sure. His calmness comes by nature, and he has been very coachable. I remember [seeing] pictures when Tolopilo was a little bit younger, and he was a little bit all over. He has been taking steps, and that shows also that he is a coachable guy.”

And that calmness was on display all season long. Rarely did Tolopilo look and act pressured between the pipes. His rebounds were sound, and while some netminders – even Arturs Silovs – can get quite frantic in scrambled situations, Tolopilo takes the calm approach and tracks pucks through the muck.

On paper, Tolopilo was very much on par with Silovs. And thanks to injuries at the tail end of the season, he got one more game between the pipes (35 starts to Silovs’ 34).

Unfortunately, we never got to see either between the pipes in Vancouver. Both were called up under emergency circumstances, and Tolopilo finished the season riding the bench in a Vancouver sweater.

So, why is he ranked 20 of 20, you ask?

As mentioned, age and depth chart positioning play large roles in our rankings. While his on-ice play and numbers offer promise as a future NHL netminder and potential gem find, he is 24 years old and sits behind a pair of homegrown drafted talents in Thatcher Demko and Silovs.

At the very least, he should be given a much longer leash on the farm this year, and if injuries do occur — knocks on wood — fans can feel comfortable knowing they have a very competent third-string waiting in the wings in Abbotsford.

By all accounts, it appears that you can chalk another depth victory down for Ian Clark.

Ceiling: His calm and composed style gives us hope that he’d be able to hold down an NHL role — especially in today’s 60/40 environment.

Floor: It’s only been one season in the American League, but it’s probably safe to say that he’s capable of holding down a starting role in the league. That’s assuming he chooses to do so for an extended period.

ETA: It’s a tough role being stuck behind two homegrown drafted and relatively young talents. Barring injury, we do not anticipate any opportunity in the coming season. However, with Arturs Silovs still not signed (RFA), that can change with a single management decision. If a change does occur, he could be ready to take on backup duties by 2025-26.

Stay tuned for our 19th-ranked prospect tomorrow.