Three months after the Abbotsford Canucks won the Calder Cup, the team is gearing up to defend their title for the first time in franchise history. Also, for the first time in franchise history, goaltender Arturs Silvos won’t be on the roster. The Calder Cup MVP netminder was traded this offseason to the Pittsburgh Penguins due to salary cap constraints and limited roster spots for Vancouver’s flurry of goaltenders.
All eyes now look to Nikita Tolopilo, the six-foot-six, 229-pound Belarusian undrafted goaltender the Canucks acquired in free agency two years prior. Tolopilo has played in the majority of games over the last two seasons for Abbotsford, participating in 35 games in his rookie 2023–24 campaign (one more than Silovs played that year), and being the only Canucks goaltender to play in over 25 games last season. Over the two seasons, he has a 40-27-3 record, with a 0.903% save percentage, and a 2.74 goals against average.
Having spent the majority of his professional North American career in tandem with Silovs, Tolopilo now steps into a new role as a bona fide veteran starter for the Canucks in net, as the 25-year-old will likely be sharing the crease with Ty Young. Young played in 11 games last season for Abbotsford, posting an 8-3 record, though he spent most of the season playing with Kalamazoo in the ECHL.
Despite these big changes in the crease, Tolopilo is unperturbed by the year that lies ahead, telling The Hockey News that the dynamic shift isn’t on his mind.
“I don't really think about that, because every year is different. So [I] just try to focus on myself. Focus on my thing. What should I do to win more games, to help my team win more games? And kind of, you know, do [the] best I can.”
To end the AHL regular season, Tolopilo had an eight-game win streak, along with a two-game appearance in the NHL with Vancouver. In his first NHL start, he earned a 2–1 win in overtime against the San Jose Sharks, as well as a loss after coming in relief of Kevin Lankinen in the third period against the Vegas Golden Knights two days later.
Tolopilo also made one appearance in the Abbotsford Calder Cup run, coming in during the second period of game two in the division semifinals against the Coachella Valley Thunderbirds, where he allowed two goals on 23 shots in the eventual 5–4 overtime loss.
Headed into the next season as defending champions is placing the spotlight on Abbotsford, especially without the goaltender who arguably brought them that trophy. Tolopilo, though, remains optimistic about what lies in store for the upcoming season, ready for “new challenges” to arise. After what he deemed a “short summer,” Tolopilo returned to training camp in Penticton, still working towards improvements in his game.
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“It's like a lot of small things, you know, like you try to clean up some area where you [are] not that good. And also work on the good things, you know, try to get even better. And of course, to be in good shape and feel good,” he explained to The Hockey News.
“I feel confident [in] myself like this [is] my third year here in North America, so I wanted to take another step forward, you know, in my development, in my career. I have some goals in my head, but, you know, it's just more for myself.”
Returning under the tutelage of Abbotsford head coach Manny Malhotra and goaltending coach Justin Pogge is another source of motivation for the towering Belarusian.
“They’re excellent people. They’re super professional. Like, we won the Calder Cup in our first year with them. [...] I like to work with them, with everyone.”
Tolopilo also enters the first year of the two-year contract he signed with the Canucks in early July, which carries a $775k NHL cap hit until the end of the 2026-27 season, when he becomes an unrestricted free agent. The contract is also a two-way deal, and it is likely that in the case of either Thatcher Demko or Kevin Lankinen being unable to play, Tolopilo will have to venture westbound on Highway 1 to join the team in Vancouver as the third-string option.
The Canucks had seven goalies on their roster heading into training camp, now down to six at the time of writing, as 2025 second-round pick Aleksei Medvedev has returned to the London Knights of the OHL. Along with Tolopilo, Young, Demko, and Lankinen, the Canucks also have Jiri Patera on contract for another season, though he only played in seven games for Abbotsford last year, and 2021 fifth-round pick Aku Koskenvuo, who played most recently with Harvard University in the NCAA, and signed a two-year, entry-level contract back in March.
With under a month until the Canucks grace the Abbotsford ice once again, Nikita Tolopilo is looking to replicate the success from last season through this year and beyond — no matter what changes the 2025–26 AHL season has in store for the defending champions.
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