Askarov making Sharks debut vs. Blues

Yaroslav Askarov will make his San Jose Sharks debut Thursday night when they take on the St. Louis Blues, the team announced.

The promising 22-year-old netminder has posted six wins, a .939 save percentage, 1.92 goals against average, and two shutouts in nine appearances for the AHL's San Jose Barracuda this season.

San Jose acquired Askarov, forward Nolan Burke, and a 2025 third-round draft pick from the Nashville Predators in August in exchange for forward David Edstrom, goaltender Magnus Chrona, and a 2025 conditional first-round pick.

The Predators selected Askarov with the 11th overall pick at the 2020 NHL Draft, and he's since been considered one of the top goalie prospects in the game.

He made his NHL debut Jan. 12, 2023, with Nashville and surrendered four goals on 35 shots in a loss to the Montreal Canadiens. Askarov appeared in two more games last season - one start and one relief appearance - and registered a .943 save percentage.

Askarov missed all of San Jose's training camp with a lower-body injury.

The Russian owns a career .914 save percentage in the AHL across 101 games.

The Sharks have so far deployed Mackenzie Blackwood and Vitek Vanecek between the pipes this campaign. Blackwood has a .910 save percentage and 4-6-3 record, while Vanecek has an .899 clip and 2-5-1 record.

San Jose ranks 20th in the league with a .908 save percentage at five-on-five, according to Natural Stat Trick. The team is last in the Pacific Division with a 6-11-4 record and .381 points percentage.