Canucks: Ian Clark's goalie depth chart shows plenty of promise

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Here’s a simple truth about Ian Clark’s success rate: Of the seven goalies he helped the Columbus Blue Jackets draft from 2011 to 2019, six have played games in the NHL.

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That’s a remarkable hit rate, and a big reason why the Vancouver Canucks and their fans have so much faith in him as the team’s director of goaltending.

Clark rejoined the Canucks in 2019 and has since been involved in drafting three goalies, plus the signing of a fourth.

Arturs Silovs is the lead story of Clark’s efforts over the last five years to build the future in goal for the Canucks. Silovs is set to be Thatcher Demko’s backup this coming season after a strong effort in the playoffs last spring.

So what about the three goalies behind Silovs in the Canucks’ system? Let’s take a look.

Nikita Tolopilo

Behind Silovs on the depth chart is Jiri Patera and he is likely to get the call if the Canucks need a third goalie in the NHL this season. But right behind him is Nikita Tolopilo, the Belarusian giant signed as a free agent by the Canucks a year ago, at the urging of Clark.

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Tolopilo had a strong first season in the Canucks’ organization. Blessed with literally immense physical talents, Tolopilo proved an apt pupil in Abbotsford for Clark’s deputy Marko Torenius, building up his game to the point where he was pushing Silovs for starts by midseason.

Tolopilo had played in Sweden the previous two seasons, logging the most minutes of any goalie in the Swedish second division in 2022-23. Those two years in Sweden were his first two with high-level coaching, and the potential Clark and the Canucks’s scouts witnessed in those seasons help explain the success has had so far in Canada.

“It was a massive adjustment, and he did well on that,” InGoal Magazine’s Kevin Woodley noted of Tolopilo’s first season in Abbotsford. “The Canucks were impressed by that. There’s been a steep learning curve — how much further does he climb?”

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Tolopilo very clearly is close to being an NHL-quality netminder, but most prospects top out at that. At 24, there’s not much growth left in Tolopilo’s game. Can he find the final few percents that will transform him from intriguing prospect into successful NHL goalie?

Aku Koskenvuo

The second goalie drafted by Clark is Finnish giant Aku Koskenvuo. Selected in the fifth round in 2021, Koskenvuo is two seasons into his NCAA career at Harvard, where he split time with junior Derek Mullahy.

Koskenvuo outperformed Mullahy and seems set to be the main starter for 2024-25.

“He’s on the Silovs track now,” Woodley said. “His skills look like they’ll translate to the pro game. He wasn’t on a lot of radars (before the 2022 draft), and here we are a couple years later …”

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So a big year ahead for the 21-year-old. But there’s an important caveat.

Unlike a junior goalie — like, say, Ty Young, who we’ll discuss next — NCAA goalies are pretty much off-limits to NHL development staff. Koskenvuo was allowed to travel to Vancouver last month for the Canucks’ summer prospects camp, but on his own dime.

He was able to work with Clark and Torenius, but in-season, Torenius isn’t allowed to go on ice with him in Boston. He’s left to work on his skill development on his own, using remote lessons from Torenius, who as the organization’s goalie development coach spends most of his time in Abbotsford.

So keep your eyes on Koskenvuo next spring and summer. Might he turn pro after one more year of collegiate hockey? You’ve got to think the Canucks would prefer that.

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Ty Young

Finally, we have Ty Young, drafted in the fifth round in 2022.

Last season was his second full campaign in the WHL, but it was uneven on the ice. Expected to be the Prince George Cougars’ number-one netminder, he fell behind Joshua Ravensbergen in the pecking order by the end of the season.

A late-November birthday, Ravensbergen isn’t eligible to be drafted until next summer. The time is clearly now for him.

Nonetheless, the Canucks still feel good about Young, who has another year of WHL eligibility.

“Young had a good camp. The Canucks felt he was the best goalie at development camp,” Woodley said. That’s a strong statement, given Koskenvuo’s attendance. Koskenvuo, for what it’s worth, was felt to have the better camp-ending scrimmage.

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Of the three, Young would look to have the longest path to tread to make the NHL. Where is he going to play this season? Will he be able to play enough to further his development? As a 20-year-old, he would be eligible to play professionally if Prince George isn’t able to find a trade partner for his rights.

pjohnston@postmedia.com

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