Sharks sending recent trade acquisition down to AHL

The San Jose Sharks have made one of the more notable training-camp cuts up to this point. The team announced Friday they have assigned goaltender Yaroslav Askarov to their AHL affiliate, the San Jose Barracuda where he will begin the 2024-25 season.

It would typically be surprising for a team to demote a trade acquisition so quickly especially considering the price. In late August, the Sharks acquired Askarov from the Nashville Predators for Magnus Chrona, David Edstrom and Vegas’ first-round pick in 2025 before inking him to a two-year, $4M extension.

The context behind this move is although San Jose believes Askarov will be their starting goaltender of the future he has been injured for much of training camp. The lower-body injury suffered by the young netminder in early September has prohibited him from playing in any preseason contests up to this point. Still, he should now be able to with the Barracuda. He’s expected to practice with the team Friday but will not appear in the night's game against the Bakersfield Condors.

It’s more than likely the Sharks are viewing this demotion as a pseudo-training camp for their young netminder. Askarov can work his way back from injury in a league he has already dominated before making his full-time transition to the NHL.

This confirms San Jose will start the year with Mackenzie Blackwood and Vitek Vanecek as their two netminders. The Sharks should be able to deploy three goalies throughout most of the regular season meaning Askarov will receive the call-up when he is fully healthy.