The good news is that Arturs Silovs is currently completing a historic playoff run with the <a href="https://canucksarmy.com/news/ice-veins-jonathan-lekkerimaki-shines-abbotsford-canucks-win-calder-cup-title">Abbotsford Canucks</a>, firmly re-establishing himself as a top goaltending prospect.
The bad news is that Silovs’ run might be forcing the Vancouver Canucks into a difficult offseason decision as it pertains to their crease.
As we’ve already written about at length, <a href="https://canucksarmy.com/news/could-arturs-silovs-performance-waiver-status-vancouver-canucks-toward-thatcher-demko-trade">Silovs runs out of waiver-exemption as of the conclusion</a> of the 2024/25 season. What that means is that Silovs will either start in the NHL next year, or he’ll have to go through waivers in order to be reassigned to the AHL.
Our take on this has been that Silovs wouldn’t make it through waivers, and is too valuable to risk. With Kevin Lankinen already signed to a five-year extension with a no-movement clause in the first couple of years, that leaves Thatcher Demko – with just one year left on his own deal and no trade protection – as the obvious candidate to be dealt.
But obvious doesn’t mean guaranteed. Demko has spoken openly about his desire to remain in Vancouver. New head coach Adam Foote has made a point of visiting with the Canucks’ ‘core’ throughout the early goings of the offseason, and he included Demko in that unofficial list. There are those who believe an extension for Demko is still on the table.
There are also those who believe the ‘solution’ here is to do what teams often try to do with their no-longer-waiver-exempt prospects who are not quite ready for the NHL – and just try to sneak Silovs down to Abbotsford at some point during the preseason anyway.
The risk here is that the supply side of the goalie market is low this summer, but the demand remains high. The odds are pretty much certain that not every team in need of a new goaltender will have one by the time training camps open. No one is suggesting that, in a vacuum, Silovs is not good enough to justify a waiver claim. The thinking goes that the preseason is a busy time for the waiver wire, and there’s a chance that Silovs could get lost in the shuffle, or sneak through because other waived goalies are drawing the attention instead.
Today, we want to put that thinking to the test by going through each team’s depth chart and seeing if we can figure out how many other quality netminders are likely to hit waivers during the 2025 preseason. If the number is high, then maybe attempting to waive Silovs makes some sense. If not, the risk is probably too great.
Let’s dive in, in alphabetical order.
No one stands out for the Anaheim Ducks, with all of their younger goaltenders still waiver exempt.
The Boston Bruins will have to waive whichever of former Canuck Michael Dipietro or Brandon Bussi they re-sign, but neither is a major threat to be taken on waivers.
No one for the <a href="https://canucksarmy.com/news/seravalli-vancouver-canucks-called-buffalo-sabres-about-peterka-interest-byram">Buffalo Sabres</a>.
No one of note for the Calgary Flames, either.
No one for the Carolina Hurricanes, who have two expiring vets behind their NHL goalies in former Canuck Spencer Martin and Dustin Tokarski.
We hit our first interesting name with the Chicago Blackhawks. They’ve got Spencer Knight and Laurent Brossoit signed for another year each at the NHL level, and then pending RFA Arvid Soderblom at 25 years old. Soderblom was once considered a decent goaltending prospect, perhaps roughly on par with Silovs prior to Silovs’ recent run. Soderblom’s is the first name we could see theoretically being plucked from waivers ahead of and instead of Silovs. That said, we think this situation might be resolved best by the Blackhawks dealing Brossoit to a team looking for a veteran backup.
The Colorado Avalanche will have to waive two 24-year-olds in Trent Miner and Kevin Mandolese, with the former being considered the stronger prospect of the two. That being said, while Miner had a fairly great AHL season in 2024/25, he’s not quite at the same level of prospect potential as Silovs.
The Columbus Blue Jackets bring us another interesting situation, as if they keep Elvis Merzlikins for another year, they’ll likely have to waive one of 26-year-old Daniil Tarasov or 24-year-old Jet Greaves. Of the two, Greaves is considered to have the brighter future, and is the greater danger of being claimed on waivers. It seems likely that the Blue Jackets will just end up waiving Tarasov, whose star has faded in recent campaigns.
No one of note for the Dallas Stars.
The Detroit Red Wings have several young goalies of interest around, but they’re all still waiver-exempt.
Who really knows what the Edmonton Oilers are going to do with their crease, but the odds are that they’ll have to waive 24-year-old prospect and pop star soundalike Oliver Rodrigue. For his part, however, Rodrigue has had a rough year in the AHL and is unlikely to be claimed.
The Florida Panthers literally just have Sergei Bobrovsky and a waiver-exempt prospect under contract for next year.
The Los Angeles Kings might waive veteran tweener Pheonix Copley, but at 33, he’s not the same sort of potential waiver claim category as Silovs.
No one for the Minnesota Wild.
The Montreal Canadiens have an interesting name in Cayden Primeau, the 25-year-old son of Keith. If Jakub Dobes remains backup in Montreal, it will push Primeau to waivers, and he’s a prospect at least vaguely within Silovs’ own echelon. Given the difference in their playoff performances this year, Silovs has the obvious edge, but Primeau remains a solid option.
The Nashville Predators may have to waive 25-year-old Justus Annunen, but his numbers at the NHL level to this point will probably scare teams off of a claim.
The New Jersey Devils would have to waive 24-year-old Nico Daws if they sign a new backup behind Jacob Markstrom. But they’ll probably avoid the issue altogether with just rolling with
Daws, a decent prospect by most measures, as their backup for 2024/25.
The New York Islanders might have to waive 30-year-old Magnus Hogberg, but like Copley, he’s in an entirely different category of waiver goalie than Silovs.
Similarly, it’d be just 33-year-old former Canuck Louis Domingue for the New York Rangers.
If the Ottawa Senators acquire a backup for Linus Ullmark, they’d have to waive 24-year-old Mads Sogaard, but he was fairly abysmal at both the AHL and NHL level last year.
The Philadelphia Flyers don’t really have a goalie. If they add one, they’ll probably keep 25-year-old Samuel Ersson as backup and waive or otherwise discard the 28-year-old Ivan Fedotov. Neither name, regardless, is a major threat to be claimed on waivers.
The Pittsburgh Penguins have 26-year-old Filip Larsson, new to the AHL as of last season and not a major name for consideration.
The San Jose Sharks have pending RFA and 25-year-old Georgii Romanov, who did okay for the Barracuda of the AHL this past year but was relatively unheralded prior.
No waiving needed for the Seattle Kraken.
The St. Louis Blues will need to waive 24-year-old Colten Ellis, who has had multiple strong campaigns now for the Springfield Thunderbirds. He’s not a big name, but he’s a fine enough prospect to at least fit into the same rough category as Silovs.
The Tampa Bay Lightning will have to waive a couple minor leaguers, but no one they’re worried about losing.
The Toronto Maple Leafs don’t have to worry about Dennis Hildeby’s waiver exemption running out quite yet, so they’re fine.
The newly-minted Utah Mammoth also have multiple minor leaguers to waive, but no one of any real note.
If the Vegas Golden Knights add a goalie behind Adin Hill, they’d likely waive 25-year-old Akira Schmid, who has been identified as an interesting prospect before and who performed well for Vegas this past year, but who has struggled to maintain consistency even at the AHL level.
The Washington Capitals will waive 26-year-old Clay Stevenson, who’s just a touch too old to draw much consideration.
And that leaves us with the Winnipeg Jets, who currently don’t look to have to waive anybody.
Now, we realize that this was an exhaustive and potentially exhausting tour through the goaltending depth charts of the NHL.
We also realize that, ahead of the bulk of the NHL offseason, it’s an incomplete picture, as many transactions have yet to be completed. 
That said, we made efforts to project which teams might make those moves, and did our best to include all young goaltenders of quality who could even theoretically end up on waivers. And we still ended up with a pretty short shortlist.
We set out to name those goalie prospects who might reasonably be claimed on waivers ahead of Silovs come the 2025 preseason. In other words, the ‘shuffle’ it is hoped by some that Silovs could get lost in.
The list we’ve got is Arvid Soderblom, Trent Miner, Daniil Tarasov, maybe Jet Greaves but not likely, Cayden Primeau, Justus Annunen, Georgii Romanov, Colten Ellis, and Akira Schmid.
But the list is actually shorter than that, because not all of these goalies will end up hitting waivers – and also because, let’s be honest, some of these names are clearly not as good of goaltending prospects as is Silovs.
If we were to identify those goalies most likely to be selected ahead of Silovs on the open waiver wire, we’d probably limit the list to just Soderblom, Miner, Primeau, and maybe Ellis.
Is that a long enough list to justify attempting to sneak Silovs through waivers?
For our money, it isn’t. We’ll stick to that prediction that, if Silovs were to be placed on waivers at any point during the 2025 preseason, he’d be claimed by another NHL team. Whether the Canucks even have to try or not will depend entirely on the moves they make over the course of the next few weeks.
<h2><a href="https://canucksarmy.com/news/ice-veins-jonathan-lekkerimaki-shines-abbotsford-canucks-win-calder-cup-title">READ NEXT: With ‘ice in his veins’, Jonathan Lekkerimäki shines as Canucks one win away from Calder Cup title</a></h2>
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Tune in for The Sheet Draft Special, streaming live on the Daily Faceoff YouTube channel on Friday, June 27th at 7 PM EST. Hosted by Jeff Marek, this live special will cover all the action from the 2025 Draft, including expert analysis of top prospects, team-by-team breakdowns, and real-time reactions to every pick. Whether you&#8217;re tracking your team’s future stars or just love the drama of draft night, this is your go-to destination for all things Draft.

The good news is that Arturs Silovs is currently completing a historic playoff run with the <a href="https://canucksarmy.com/news/ice-veins-jonathan-lekkerimaki-shines-abbotsford-canucks-win-calder-cup-title">Abbotsford Canucks</a>, firmly re-establishing himself as a top goaltending prospect.

The bad news is that Silovs’ run might be forcing the Vancouver Canucks into a difficult offseason decision as it pertains to their crease.

As we’ve already written about at length, <a href="https://canucksarmy.com/news/could-arturs-silovs-performance-waiver-status-vancouver-canucks-toward-thatcher-demko-trade">Silovs runs out of waiver-exemption as of the conclusion</a> of the 2024/25 season. What that means is that Silovs will either start in the NHL next year, or he’ll have to go through waivers in order to be reassigned to the AHL.

Our take on this has been that Silovs wouldn’t make it through waivers, and is too valuable to risk. With Kevin Lankinen already signed to a five-year extension with a no-movement clause in the first couple of years, that leaves Thatcher Demko – with just one year left on his own deal and no trade protection – as the obvious candidate to be dealt.

But obvious doesn’t mean guaranteed. Demko has spoken openly about his desire to remain in Vancouver. New head coach Adam Foote has made a point of visiting with the Canucks’ ‘core’ throughout the early goings of the offseason, and he included Demko in that unofficial list. There are those who believe an extension for Demko is still on the table.

There are also those who believe the ‘solution’ here is to do what teams often try to do with their no-longer-waiver-exempt prospects who are not quite ready for the NHL – and just try to sneak Silovs down to Abbotsford at some point during the preseason anyway.

The risk here is that the supply side of the goalie market is low this summer, but the demand remains high. The odds are pretty much certain that not every team in need of a new goaltender will have one by the time training camps open. No one is suggesting that, in a vacuum, Silovs is not good enough to justify a waiver claim. The thinking goes that the preseason is a busy time for the waiver wire, and there’s a chance that Silovs could get lost in the shuffle, or sneak through because other waived goalies are drawing the attention instead.

Today, we want to put that thinking to the test by going through each team’s depth chart and seeing if we can figure out how many other quality netminders are likely to hit waivers during the 2025 preseason. If the number is high, then maybe attempting to waive Silovs makes some sense. If not, the risk is probably too great.

Let’s dive in, in alphabetical order.

No one stands out for the Anaheim Ducks, with all of their younger goaltenders still waiver exempt.

The Boston Bruins will have to waive whichever of former Canuck Michael Dipietro or Brandon Bussi they re-sign, but neither is a major threat to be taken on waivers.

No one for the <a href="https://canucksarmy.com/news/seravalli-vancouver-canucks-called-buffalo-sabres-about-peterka-interest-byram">Buffalo Sabres</a>.

No one of note for the Calgary Flames, either.

No one for the Carolina Hurricanes, who have two expiring vets behind their NHL goalies in former Canuck Spencer Martin and Dustin Tokarski.

We hit our first interesting name with the Chicago Blackhawks. They’ve got Spencer Knight and Laurent Brossoit signed for another year each at the NHL level, and then pending RFA Arvid Soderblom at 25 years old. Soderblom was once considered a decent goaltending prospect, perhaps roughly on par with Silovs prior to Silovs’ recent run. Soderblom’s is the first name we could see theoretically being plucked from waivers ahead of and instead of Silovs. That said, we think this situation might be resolved best by the Blackhawks dealing Brossoit to a team looking for a veteran backup.

The Colorado Avalanche will have to waive two 24-year-olds in Trent Miner and Kevin Mandolese, with the former being considered the stronger prospect of the two. That being said, while Miner had a fairly great AHL season in 2024/25, he’s not quite at the same level of prospect potential as Silovs.

The Columbus Blue Jackets bring us another interesting situation, as if they keep Elvis Merzlikins for another year, they’ll likely have to waive one of 26-year-old Daniil Tarasov or 24-year-old Jet Greaves. Of the two, Greaves is considered to have the brighter future, and is the greater danger of being claimed on waivers. It seems likely that the Blue Jackets will just end up waiving Tarasov, whose star has faded in recent campaigns.

No one of note for the Dallas Stars.

The Detroit Red Wings have several young goalies of interest around, but they’re all still waiver-exempt.

Who really knows what the Edmonton Oilers are going to do with their crease, but the odds are that they’ll have to waive 24-year-old prospect and pop star soundalike Oliver Rodrigue. For his part, however, Rodrigue has had a rough year in the AHL and is unlikely to be claimed.

The Florida Panthers literally just have Sergei Bobrovsky and a waiver-exempt prospect under contract for next year.

The Los Angeles Kings might waive veteran tweener Pheonix Copley, but at 33, he’s not the same sort of potential waiver claim category as Silovs.

No one for the Minnesota Wild.

The Montreal Canadiens have an interesting name in Cayden Primeau, the 25-year-old son of Keith. If Jakub Dobes remains backup in Montreal, it will push Primeau to waivers, and he’s a prospect at least vaguely within Silovs’ own echelon. Given the difference in their playoff performances this year, Silovs has the obvious edge, but Primeau remains a solid option.

The Nashville Predators may have to waive 25-year-old Justus Annunen, but his numbers at the NHL level to this point will probably scare teams off of a claim.

The New Jersey Devils would have to waive 24-year-old Nico Daws if they sign a new backup behind Jacob Markstrom. But they’ll probably avoid the issue altogether with just rolling with

Daws, a decent prospect by most measures, as their backup for 2024/25.

The New York Islanders might have to waive 30-year-old Magnus Hogberg, but like Copley, he’s in an entirely different category of waiver goalie than Silovs.

Similarly, it’d be just 33-year-old former Canuck Louis Domingue for the New York Rangers.

If the Ottawa Senators acquire a backup for Linus Ullmark, they’d have to waive 24-year-old Mads Sogaard, but he was fairly abysmal at both the AHL and NHL level last year.

The Philadelphia Flyers don’t really have a goalie. If they add one, they’ll probably keep 25-year-old Samuel Ersson as backup and waive or otherwise discard the 28-year-old Ivan Fedotov. Neither name, regardless, is a major threat to be claimed on waivers.

The Pittsburgh Penguins have 26-year-old Filip Larsson, new to the AHL as of last season and not a major name for consideration.

The San Jose Sharks have pending RFA and 25-year-old Georgii Romanov, who did okay for the Barracuda of the AHL this past year but was relatively unheralded prior.

No waiving needed for the Seattle Kraken.

The St. Louis Blues will need to waive 24-year-old Colten Ellis, who has had multiple strong campaigns now for the Springfield Thunderbirds. He’s not a big name, but he’s a fine enough prospect to at least fit into the same rough category as Silovs.

The Tampa Bay Lightning will have to waive a couple minor leaguers, but no one they’re worried about losing.

The Toronto Maple Leafs don’t have to worry about Dennis Hildeby’s waiver exemption running out quite yet, so they’re fine.

The newly-minted Utah Mammoth also have multiple minor leaguers to waive, but no one of any real note.

If the Vegas Golden Knights add a goalie behind Adin Hill, they’d likely waive 25-year-old Akira Schmid, who has been identified as an interesting prospect before and who performed well for Vegas this past year, but who has struggled to maintain consistency even at the AHL level.

The Washington Capitals will waive 26-year-old Clay Stevenson, who’s just a touch too old to draw much consideration.

And that leaves us with the Winnipeg Jets, who currently don’t look to have to waive anybody.

Now, we realize that this was an exhaustive and potentially exhausting tour through the goaltending depth charts of the NHL.

We also realize that, ahead of the bulk of the NHL offseason, it’s an incomplete picture, as many transactions have yet to be completed.
That said, we made efforts to project which teams might make those moves, and did our best to include all young goaltenders of quality who could even theoretically end up on waivers. And we still ended up with a pretty short shortlist.

We set out to name those goalie prospects who might reasonably be claimed on waivers ahead of Silovs come the 2025 preseason. In other words, the ‘shuffle’ it is hoped by some that Silovs could get lost in.

The list we’ve got is Arvid Soderblom, Trent Miner, Daniil Tarasov, maybe Jet Greaves but not likely, Cayden Primeau, Justus Annunen, Georgii Romanov, Colten Ellis, and Akira Schmid.

But the list is actually shorter than that, because not all of these goalies will end up hitting waivers – and also because, let’s be honest, some of these names are clearly not as good of goaltending prospects as is Silovs.

If we were to identify those goalies most likely to be selected ahead of Silovs on the open waiver wire, we’d probably limit the list to just Soderblom, Miner, Primeau, and maybe Ellis.

Is that a long enough list to justify attempting to sneak Silovs through waivers?

For our money, it isn’t. We’ll stick to that prediction that, if Silovs were to be placed on waivers at any point during the 2025 preseason, he’d be claimed by another NHL team. Whether the Canucks even have to try or not will depend entirely on the moves they make over the course of the next few weeks.
<h2><a href="https://canucksarmy.com/news/ice-veins-jonathan-lekkerimaki-shines-abbotsford-canucks-win-calder-cup-title">READ NEXT: With ‘ice in his veins’, Jonathan Lekkerimäki shines as Canucks one win away from Calder Cup title</a></h2>
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Tune in for The Sheet Draft Special, streaming live on the Daily Faceoff YouTube channel on Friday, June 27th at 7 PM EST. Hosted by Jeff Marek, this live special will cover all the action from the 2025 Draft, including expert analysis of top prospects, team-by-team breakdowns, and real-time reactions to every pick. Whether you're tracking your team’s future stars or just love the drama of draft night, this is your go-to destination for all things Draft.

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