The summer of the San Jose Sharks continues with Yaroslav Askarov

The San Jose Sharks are long past the days of having Joe Thornton, Patrick Marleau, and Joe Pavelski lead the way for them. Even guys like Timo Meier, Erik Karlsson, and Tomas Hertl have been traded after being a big part of the team for a long time. 

In 2023-24, the San Jose Sharks were the worst team in the NHL and they were rewarded with the first overall pick. They used that selection to take Boston University star and Hobey Baker winner Macklin Celebrini. 

The year before that, they took Will Smith who went to Boston College, and gave Celebrini a run for his money in the Hobey Baker race. Now, they will be teammates in the NHL. 

Over this summer, they also signed Tyler Toffoli in free agency. He had a great year split between the New Jersey Devils and Winnipeg Jets last year which is something he’d like to bring with him to San Jose. 

A lot of things have been going well for the San Jose Sharks lately

In a little bit of a lesser move, they helped the Edmonton Oilers clear up some cap space but they got a good veteran in Cody Ceci out of it. He will make his share of mistakes but he is ultimately an upgrade over an AHL guy that would have played there instead. 

With some of these additions to the roster along with some development for guys like Fabian Zetterlund and William Eklund, they might be a much better team than they were a year prior. There are also a ton of other great prospects in the pipeline to be excited as well. 

On Friday, the Sharks made a move that could go down as one of the biggest. They acquired goalie Yaroslav Askarov in a trade for the Nashville Predators. 

They traded the first-round pick that they got from the Vegas Golden Knights in the Hertl trade along with F David Edstrom and G Magnus Chrona for Askarov, F Nolan Burke, and a 2025 3rd-round pick that originally belonged to the Colorado Avalanche. 

Earlier in the week, it became known that Askarov asked the Predators for a trade. With Juuse Saros signed long-term, there was no path to Askarov becoming the starter. He wanted out as a result and now he got his wish. 

If he reaches the potential that made him the 11th overall pick in the 2020 NHL Draft, the Sharks all of a sudden have their franchise goalie of the future. With all of the great skaters set to play in front of him going forward, GM Mike Grier has to be thrilled with the way things are shaking out.