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Ryan S. Clark, NHL reporter
All questions surrounding Yaroslav Askarov’s future were answered on Friday when the Nashville Predators traded him to the San Jose Sharks.
The Sharks received Askarov, forward Nolan Burke and a 2025 third-round pick originally owned by the Colorado Avalanche, while the Predators received forward David Edstrom, a conditional 2025 first-round pick owned by the Vegas Golden Knights and goaltender Magnus Chrona.
How did each CEO fare with this swap? Let’s find out.
Shark rating: A
Sharks GM Mike Grier and his front office team may have the strongest offseason of any NHL team.
They hired a new NHL coach, Ryan Warsofsky, who has a successful track record and comes from the same ECHL program that produced Colorado’s Jared Bednar and Washington’s Spencer Carbery, the South Carolina Stingrays.
They secured two top-6 forwards for the future when they drafted center Macklin Celebrini of Boston University with the No. 1 pick and signed Will Smith, the Boston College freshman and 2023 first-round pick, to an entry-level contract.
They have signed veterans like Cody Ceci, Barclay Goodrow, Tyler Toffoli, Jake Walman and Alexander Wennberg to improve on their last-place finish from last season while adding experienced leaders to a young roster.
And then they used Friday to sign one of the NHL’s most promising young goaltenders.
Since Askarov was drafted 11th overall in 2020, there was an expectation that he would have a chance to become a true franchise goaltender at a time when Russia is producing some of the game’s best goalies. He used the AHL as a proving ground, winning 56 games in two seasons with a 2.50 goals-against average and a .911 save percentage.
Any team that wanted Askarov needed the capital to make a deal possible, salary cap space, and playing time.
San Jose had everything it needed to get Askarov… thanks largely to the Tomas Hertl trade last spring. They received Edstrom, a first-round pick in 2023 and a conditional first-round pick from the Golden Knights.
Askarov originally had one year left on his contract worth $925,000 before becoming a restricted free agent next summer. But the Sharks signed him to a two-year, $2 million annual deal after the trade. That allows Askarov a raise and gives the Sharks more than just a year to evaluate what a long-term deal should look like.
Before signing Askarov’s contract extension, the Sharks had to figure out how they would handle their goaltending situation, as they have Mackenzie Blackwood and Vitek Vanecek, both of whom will be UFAs at the end of the season. With the Sharks looking to add Askarov to their NHL plans soon, one of the veterans could be leaving the Bay Area.
With the Sharks in a rebuild, they still need time to get back into the ranks of contenders, but what they did this summer was crucial in building a better future that seems closer now that they have their franchise goalie for the next few years.
Predators grade: B+
Goalie duos have their value in the modern NHL. Just not in Nashville right now, which makes the dynamic surrounding Askarov and the Predators one of the more complex situations in the league.
What made Askarov’s future with the Predators so complicated was that the pieces never seemed to fit together properly. That starts with the fact that since the 2019-20 season, only Connor Hellebuyck and Andrei Vasilevskiy have played more games than Preds goalie Juuse Saros.
With a starting goalie like Saros, the Predators needed a goalie who was comfortable playing fewer than 20 games per season, especially since Saros had signed an eight-year contract with an annual salary of $7.74 million in the offseason.
The extension of Saros’ eight-year contract and the fact that he plays a lot of minutes meant that Askarov would likely receive limited playing time – far from ideal for a 22-year-old first-round pick at a time when more and more teams are relying heavily on their young talent to win games.
Then there’s the Predators’ current situation. 18 months ago, it seemed there was a place for Askarov. Their roster was in transition and it was believed Saros could be traded if the front office, which saw the transition from David Poile to Barry Trotz, needed to hit the restart button.
Since then, the Predators have revamped their roster and are now in the playoffs. This has led to management deciding to go all in on winning and signing Jonathan Marchessault, Steven Stamkos and Brady Skjei as free agents.
All of these factors contributed to Askarov’s time in Nashville coming to an end, with the realization that Trotz also had the runway to wait for a deal. Or that Was the case until it was reported that Askarov had said he would not join the Predators’ AHL team and had requested a transfer.
It was difficult from the start to find a player of equal quality for a top talent, which is what made the Sharks’ offer so tempting. Edstrom is a 6’3″ center who has been playing against professionals in Sweden since he was 17.
Edstrom is considered one of the top nine centers and is part of one of the most promising talent pools in the NHL – a pool that now has the chance to attract even more talent.
With the conditional first-round pick, the Predators have three first-round picks in the 2025 draft. The Preds also have Tampa Bay’s first-round pick from the 2023 Tanner Jeannot trade.
