There is no doubt from scouts around the NHL: Iaroslav Askarov will be the first goaltender off the board at the 2020 NHL Entry Draft.
Askarov is the most prominent goaltender to come out of Russia since the 2012 Entry Draft when the Tampa Bay Lightning selected Andrei Vasilevskiy with the 19th overall selection. While Vasilevskiy entered the draft with some pretty high international accolades of his own, Askarov has a long list of successes achieved well before his 18th birthday.
The trophy case is full for Askarov, it boasts a World Junior Championship silver medal, gold and bronze medals from two Hlinka-Gretzky tournaments, silver at the U18 WJC, and a gold medal at the U-17 WJC. That' a lot of international hockey on top of a full schedule in the VHL, Russia's second-tier league behind the KHL, and five of those international tournaments occurred within a 12-month span during the 2018-19 hockey season.
His performance at the 2019 Hlinka-Gretzky tournament produced the best stats in the tournament's history. He finished with a 1.25 goals GAA and a .960 save percentage.
The numbers are remarkable really, when considering Askarov just turned 18 in June. Many scouts consider him the best goaltending prospect in nearly a decade. "[He's an] elite franchise goalie in the mold of Carey Price, and the best goaltender I've seen entering the draft since Price in 2005," TSN's Craig Button said of Askarov.
Already with a full season in the VHL it has afforded Askarov the ability to play and compete against men while developing all areas of his game. He played 18 games with a .920 save percentage with SKA-Neva St. Petersburg and had a 12-3-3 record. He was also the only U18 goaltender in the league, other than Semyon Korshnboim who appeared in just a single VHL game and at 17-years-old he was the youngest goalie in league's history to appear in more than nine games.
Needless to say, he will be a big part of the future in net not only for the franchise who selects him in the upcoming draft, but also the NHL as a whole.
