Yaroslav Korostelyov To Join Sharks Organization

A recent San Jose Sharks draft pick will join the organization much sooner than expected. First reported by Jeremy Garrett of Hockey News Hub and later confirmed by Sheng Peng of San Jose Hockey Now, netminder Yaroslav Korostelyov has terminated his contract with SKA St. Petersburg of the KHL and will report to the Sharks organization for the 2026-27 campaign.

The move is an interesting one for a few reasons. For starters, Korostelyov is only two years from being drafted in the seventh round by the Sharks, so he isn’t one of their top prospects, even in the goaltending department.

Secondly, Korostelyov is incredibly unproven at the professional level. Despite being under contract with the KHL’s SKA St. Petersburg, he’s never played for them. In fact, he only has one game of professional experience under his belt. Last season, aside from playing one game for St. Petersburg’s VHL team, he primarily played in the MHL, a major junior league in Russia. Still, he performed well, finishing with a 14-5-0 record in 20 games with a .917 SV% and 2.22 GAA, including five shutouts.

Given his lack of professional experience, Korostelyov is more likely to play for the ECHL’s Wichita Thunder than the AHL’s San Jose Barracuda next season. If that’s the case, it is surprising that the Sharks would approve a transition to the North American landscape instead of continuing his development in Russia. Typically, goaltenders take longer to develop than skaters, making a quick transition to the professional scene in the United States an unusual decision.