Earlier today, San Jose picked up what they hope will be their goalie of the future, acquiring Yaroslav Askarov from Nashville. At the time of his trade request, the belief was that the netminder wasn’t interested in remaining in the AHL for the upcoming season.
However, GM Mike Grier indicated to reporters today including Curtis Pashelka of The Mercury News (Twitter link) that after speaking with the 22-year-old, they don’t have any concerns about potentially sending him to the AHL Barracuda if necessary. Askarov, who also inked a two-year, $4MM extension today, has played in 92 games in the minors over the last two seasons, posting a 2.55 GAA and a .911 SV%. If San Jose wants to avoid having him play extended time behind what’s expected to once again be a weak back end, it wouldn’t be surprising to see him spend at least a bit of time in the minors.
More notes from San Jose via Pashelka:
- One of the reasons why Askarov might need to spend some time in the minors is that goaltender Vitek Vanecek is expected to be ready to take part in training camp next month. San Jose acquired the 28-year-old at the trade deadline but he missed the final two months of the season with a lower-body injury. Vanecek and Mackenzie Blackwood are the returning veterans and with price tags of $3.4MM and $2.35MM respectively, it’s unlikely that there’s a trade market for either netminder at the moment.
- Speaking of injured players expected to be ready for training camp, Grier indicated that defenseman Matt Benning should be good to go next month. The 30-year-old was limited to just 14 appearances last season due to a hip injury that he had surgery for back in January. He should battle for a spot on the third pairing in training camp.
- While Logan Couture has ramped up his training, Grier noted that the veteran has yet to start skating yet. He was originally expected to skate in August but the team has a plan for his continued progression towards a return. Couture missed all but six games last season due to a groin issue known as osteitis pubis and clearly, he still has some work to do in order to be cleared for the upcoming season.
- When asked about the possibility of dipping into the PTO market in the coming weeks, Grier stated that they “will have to see” on that front. San Jose has been busy over the offseason adding veteran depth to the roster so between that and several key prospects looking to make the jump to a full-time NHL spot, there might not be room to bring in someone on a tryout deal.