The San Jose Sharks added to the team’s goaltending depth on July 10, signing 25-year-old Jakub Skarek to a one-year deal worth $775,000. Skarek was not offered a new contract by the New York Islanders when his most recent deal ended and looked like he was headed to Finland to play hockey until General Manager Mike Grier made the call.
Skarek fills what Grier felt was a gap in the Sharks’ goaltending. When asked during his free agency conference call why he allowed goaltender Georgi Romanov to enter free agency, Grier said he was looking for someone with a little more experience to play at the AHL level and that’s what he gets in Skarek.
“Jakub has a plethora of professional experience in net at just 25 years old,” said Grier. “He is a big, athletic goaltender with a lot of compete in his game.”
A 6-foot-3, 205-pound native of Jihlava, Czechia, Skarek was originally selected 72nd overall by the New York Islanders in the 2018 NHL Draft. He has played several seasons in the AHL, totaling 161 professional games and 9,126 minutes in the net.
His statistics aren’t going to impress. He has a career .890 save percentage at the AHL level and a 49-84-16-5 record. His career goals against average is 3.34. Skarek has exactly one Calder Cup playoff game to his name, in 2022 when he played 71 minutes in a loss for the Islanders. He made 31 saves and finished with a .912 save percentage and 2.54 goals against average.
That said, Skarek also isn’t going to be called upon to take a majority of the starts for the Barracuda. It’s expected that Gabriel Carriere will be the starter and it’s possible that Matt Davis will also be asked to share netminding duties. Skarek is there as a veteran presence to help steady the young netminders as they learn to become professionals.
Skarek also has one NHL start to his name. He made his NHL debut for the Islanders against the Florida Panthers on Feb. 2, 2025 and lost, allowing five goals and making 32 saves. He also came into a game against the New York Rangers on Feb. 25, 2025 and stopped all seven of the shots he faced. Unfortunately for Skarek, the damage had already been done and the Islanders lost 5-1.
