San Jose Sharks (@SanJoseSharks) General Manager Mike Grier announced today that the club has recalled goaltender Yaroslav Askarov from the San Jose Barracuda in the American Hockey League (AHL). This is his first recall to the Sharks.
Askarov, 22, is 6-3-0 through nine appearances with the Barracuda this season, including a .939 Save Percentage (SV%) with a 1.92 Goals Against Average (GAA). Askarov was named AHL Goaltender of the Month for October after going 5-0-0 with a 1.20 GAA, .959 SV% and two shutouts, and currently ranks third in the AHL with a .939 SV%, is tied for fourth in the league with six wins and stands sixth in the circuit with a 1.92 GAA.
Askarov made his NHL debut with the Nashville Predators on Jan. 12, 2023, at Montreal and recorded his first NHL win on Dec. 30, 2023, at Washington, finishing the contest with 29 saves on 31 shots faced. Askarov is 1-1-0 with a .914 SV% and a 2.58 GAA in his three career NHL appearances.
Last year, the netminder primarily played his season with the Milwaukee Admirals, AHL affiliate of the Nashville Predators. He appeared in 44 games, owning a 30-13-1 record, including six shutouts, a 2.39 GAA, and .911 SV%. He finished the campaign ranked second in the league in shutouts. He won 14 consecutive games from Dec. 23, 2023 through Feb. 22, 2024, tying the franchise record. Over his winning streak, Askarov tallied five shutouts and allowed two goals or fewer in 10 of his 14 appearances.
Prior to playing in North America, Askarov appeared with SKA St. Petersburg in parts of three seasons in the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL). He made history in the 2019-20 season when he made his KHL debut on Nov. 27, 2019 with the club, becoming the second-youngest goaltender to start a KHL game (17 years old). In 16 career KHL games, he posted an 8-5-2 record with a 1.48 GAA and .937 SV% with one shutout.
The six-foot-three, 178-pound native of Omsk, Russia was acquired by San Jose from the Nashville Predators on Aug. 23, 2024, along with Nolan Burke and a third-round pick (Colorado’s choice) in the 2025 NHL Draft in exchange for David Edstrom, Magnus Chrona and a first-round pick (Top-10 protected; San Jose will have the choice to transfer San Jose’s or Vegas’s selection) in the 2025 NHL Draft.
In a related move, forward Nico Sturm has been placed on Injured Reserve.
