By demanding a trade from the Nashville Predators, Yaroslav Askarov expected to get more playing time in the National Hockey League (NHL), but the San Jose Sharks cooled his enthusiasm.
The 22-year-old Russian was sold to the American League by the Californian club on Friday. The Sharks prefer to start the campaign with Mackenzie Blackwood and Vitek Vanecek, who would have needed to go through waivers to be demoted to the San Jose Barracuda.
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The Sharks could also have chosen to go with a trio of goalies, but Askarov will have to be patient. The 11th overall pick in the 2020 draft was dominant in the American League last year with a 30-13-1 record, .911 save percentage and 2.39 goals-against average.
He has played three games in the NHL so far.
On August 23, Askarov was traded to the Sharks along with Nolan Burke and a 2025 third-round selection in exchange for Magnus Chrona, David Edstrom and a 2025 first-round pick. He later agreed to a two-year contract extension, with an annual value of $2 million, which will begin next year.
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