Yaroslav Askarov has a unique opportunity this coming season. He’s had a lot of pressure mounted on him over the summer, but this pressure also gives him the opportunity to do something special.
Position: Goaltender
Height: 6’3”
Weight: 180 lbs.
Age: 24
Date of Birth: June 16, 2002
Draft Year: 2020 (Drafted 11th overall by the Nashville Predators)
Catches: Right
2026-27 Team: San Jose Sharks (NHL)
One full year of NHL experience has given Askarov a two-sided coin. The tail’s end has an eroded cushion. The hockey world has long known of the toolset he has to succeed, and it’s what led him to a starting position in the World Junior Championship – drafted in the first round (a rarity for goaltenders) by an organization with an already elite talent in Juuse Saros and traded for by San Jose for the approximate value of Tomas Hertl. This season, Askarov will have fewer excuses for being an up-and-comer. He will have greater expectations and more pressure.
What does the head of the coin show? That talent, the experience of a full season with meaningful hockey played deeper into the season, and now the opportunity to succeed with a team poised for an upward trajectory in front of him. If this season goes well for the Sharks, that likely means that Askarov fulfilled his role as a prime talent in the crease. Yes, the Sharks have a deeper goalie depth pool now with Alex Nedeljkovic, Eric Comrie and Ilya Samsonov. All three of these other goaltenders have had brief periods of NHL success, but none have the ceiling that Askarov has.
What we like
Askarov’s obvious strengths are his explosive mobility in net and his swagger. He has the ability to put on a show in a way that is rare for NHL goalies in today’s game. The modern goaltender can be extremely predictable, almost robotic. Askarov has the type of skill that showcases his personality and brings fans into the arena. Even his gear shows his sense for color and flash.
Aside from the skills and hype, his hockey intelligence is remarkable. A primary reason for his hockey success thus far has been his ability to learn and read the game.
Areas of improvement
Askarov knows better than anyone what improvements he will be looking to make this season. From a technical standpoint, he needs to clean up some of his movements. Because he is so capable of moving anywhere in the crease with various methods of doing so, he often finds himself overexerting his abilities. With experience, he will become more polished with his decision-making and reads. As it is with mastering any new job or skill, it takes time to become rehearsed in a way that shows efficiency of time and movement. Askarov will achieve this in time – he simply needs more starts in net to develop this.
Additionally, Askarov needs to improve his consistency. November 2025 was an incredible month for the young goaltender. In 10 games, he went 8-2-0 with a 1.88 GAA and .947 save percentage, stealing many wins across the month. His statistics and consistency dropped off significantly the rest of the season. Askarov put up enough good performances between shaky starts to continue to earn ice time as the team was pushing for a playoff spot, but it was not enough to help the team play past the month of April.
What’s next for Askarov?
He earned 21 wins for the Sharks last season, but look for him to push for a 30-win season here. Ideally, Askarov will really take the reins early on, sometime before Thanksgiving, and the Sharks will rely on him for heavy minutes in the crease through the rest of the season.
He doesn’t have the pressure to be the only performer. As mentioned above, there are several more proven goaltenders on the roster who can provide solid NHL minutes. We saw Nedeljkovic put up many impressive games last season, even when the team was struggling. Hopefully, the coaching staff will let Askarov play more this season and learn from his mistakes, without putting an immense amount of pressure on him until he forces their hand to play him every night.
Highlights
2026 Top 25 Under 25 countdown … so far
9. Keaton Verhoeff
10. Ryan Lin
11. Luca Cagnoni
12. Joshua Ravensbergen
13. Eric Pohlkamp
14. Quentin Musty
15. Filip Bystedt
16. Zack Ostapchuk
17. Leo Sahlin Wallenius
18. Cam Lund
19. Ethan Cardwell
20. Nolan Allan
21. Haoxi Wang
22. Cole McKinney
23. Carson Wetsch
24. Mattias Havelid
25. Christian Kirsch
Honorable Mentions: Joey Muldowney, Teddy Mutryn, Andre Gasseau, Brady Knowling and Alexander Karmanov
Editor’s Note: More than 100 people voted in our fan poll this year, though admittedly, not everyone filled out the entire form, i.e., all 25 spots and the honorable mentions. In some cases, some people filled out their top ten and left the rest blank. While it makes the math a bit harder, we found the fairest (and easiest) thing to do was average the scores based on the total responses received. While blank scores counted as zero, it didn’t seem to skew the results too badly. Ultimately, this isn’t an exact science, but I think you’ll find it’s a pretty good list.
