Day: August 26, 2024

The San Jose Sharks traded Yaroslav Askarov to the Nashville Predators on Friday and signed a two-year, $4 million contract ($2 million average annual value). The contract starts with the 2025-26 season. 

“It’s a really big day for our franchise, I believe,” Sharks general manager Mike Grier said of acquiring the goalie. “… To have an opportunity to add him to our group is really exciting, and I think it kind of breathes some more positive energy into the group.”

Nashville bought prospect David Edstrom, goalie prospect Magnus Chrona and a conditional first-round pick in the 2025 NHL Draft (formerly acquired by San Jose from the Vegas Golden Knights). If that pick is in the top 10, San Jose will have to either transfer their first-round pick in the 2025 draft or the Golden Knights selection. 

San Jose also bought minor-league forward Nolan Burke and a third-round pick in the 2025 draft. 

Askarov could have been a restricted free agent after this season. 

“He’s in the fold, he’s all in, he’s excited to be here,” Grier said.

Nashville chose Askarov with the No. 11 pick in the 2020 NHL Draft. He is 1-1-0 with a 2.58 goals against average and .914 save percentage in three matches over two seasons with the Predators. 

He was the top-rated European goalie in NHL Central Scouting’s final rankings for the 2020 draft and became the third Russia-born goalie in NHL history to be selected first at the position. He joins Ilya Samsonov (Washington Capitals, No. 22, 2015 NHL Draft) and Andrei Vasilevskiy (Tampa Bay Lightning, No. 19, 2012 NHL Draft).

“We’ve talked about him kind of off and on over the whole year, probably,” Grier said. “… He’s obviously a super-talented goalie, and there’s not too many opportunities where you have the chance to go after a young goalie like this and add him to your group.”

Grier said San Jose are confident Askarov can become a No. 1 goalie in the NHL because of his size (6-foot-3, 178 pounds) and athleticism, plus the way he handles the puck and read the game.

“When you’re that size and you have the ability to anticipate and read plays and the athletic ability he has, I think it’s all about him just putting it all together,” Grier said.

NHL Network’s Kevin Weekes reported that Askarov requested a trade. Nashville then released a statement on Monday from Barry Trotz saying the expectation was for him to report to training camp in September and compete for the position. 

Trotz while speaking to The Tennessean on Friday said that the Predators discussed privately with Askarov in recent weeks about trading him. Once that trade request became public it hastened the team’s timeline for doing that. 

“We talked about exploring some things, working together to see where this process would go through training camp,” Trotz told the newspaper. “But once it became public, it pushed to a different place in terms of the decision time.”

The Predators have three other goaltenders on their roster: No. 1 goalie Juuse Saros, Matt Murray and Scott Wedgewood.