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Askarov Has No Problem Being in AHL

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Credit: San Jose Sharks

Yaroslav Askarov has no problem being in the AHL.



And that’s where he is, after the San Jose Sharks sent him down to the San Jose Barracuda on Friday. Askarov has missed the entirety of training camp with a lower-body injury, so a spell in the AHL is exactly what he needs to get back into game shape.

“I felt awesome,” Askarov said after his second-straight day of practice on Saturday. “[Don’t] feel any pain, any [tightness].”

Askarov is hoping to be ready to play by the Barracuda’s Oct. 12 season opener.

“We’re day-to-day,” Barracuda head coach John McCarthy said. “We got a full week of practice [this] week. Everyday, we got to check in and see where he’s at.”

But Askarov also has no issue being in the AHL for longer, if need be.

According to his agent Dan Milstein, that’s part of the plan discussed with GM Mike Grier before the San Jose Sharks consummated the blockbuster trade with the Nashville Predators for the top goaltending prospect in August.

The Sharks, in a show of faith in Askarov, also signed him to a one-way, two-year $4 million contract after the trade. It’s a good deal for both sides: Some security for a 2020 first-round pick who has played just three NHL games, a reasonable AAV for San Jose if Askarov emerges as a go-to goalie, but short-term enough to set him up for a long-term payday soon.

“I appreciate it. Every hockey player believes in himself. And if management believes in [you] too, it’s always helps,” Askarov said of his contract. “You feel more comfortable, more confident.”

Milstein noted that for the 22-year-old’s development, Askarov wants to play a lot. Askarov also knows that the Sharks already have two veteran starting goalies in Mackenzie Blackwood and Vitek Vanecek.

So the Barracuda was always a possible and likely destination for Askarov this season, even before his pre-camp injury.

The difference between the Sharks and the Predators, where Askarov reportedly wouldn’t report to the AHL’s Milwaukee Admirals?

There’s a path with the San Jose Sharks to the No. 1 job. Askarov actually has the longest contract of any of the NHL-ready Sharks goalies, that two-year extension which kicks in for the 2025-26 season. Both Blackwood and Vanecek are UFAs after this year.

That path simply didn’t exist in Nashville, with the Predators giving franchise netminder Juuse Saros a maximum extension on Jul. 1. Saros’s deal runs until 2033.

San Jose has rolled out the welcome wagon for Askarov: “I feel like all the organization and everybody around me, believes [in] me and will help me grow everyday.”

This starts with Sharks director of goaltending Evgeni Nabokov.

“He’s a good, positive man whose positivity spreads around,” Askarov told Nikita Sokolov of the San Jose Hockey Now about Evgeni Nabokov. “It’s contagious.”

This isn’t just off the ice, it’s on the ice too.

“I really like that he’s trying to take some time and focus on the details, the small details. Goalie stance, hands, body position,” Askarov said, before pausing.

Has he given away too much?

“It’s going to be our secret,” Askarov laughed. “It’s a great answer. I love it. I love this answer.”

But what Askarov clearly doesn’t want to be a secret?

“It feels like I’m at home,” he said, just one month into what’s hopefully a long tenure between the pipes for the San Jose Sharks.

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