SAN JOSE – Goalie Yaroslav Askarov took a spot inside the San Jose Sharks locker room at the team’s practice facility on Monday morning, his nameplate directly above his stall.
Immediately to his left were the lockers of Will Smith and William Eklund, with Macklin Celebrini, Ty Dellandrea, and Fabian Zetterlund’s stalls just a few steps away. Nearby were the lockers of defensemen Henry Thrun and Jack Thompson.
At least some of these players figure to be fixtures on the Sharks roster for years to come, and Askarov — thought of in that same manner — got a chance to practice with them for the first time Monday after he missed all of training camp with a lower-body injury.
“It’s always fun to be on the ice with some skilled guys,” said Askarov, who was recalled from the Barracuda with goalie Vitek Vanecek unavailable (upper-body injury) and after center Nico Sturm was placed on injured reserve. “(With the) Barracuda, we had young (skilled) guys as well. They’re always ready to go.”
Askarov, the centerpiece of the Sharks’ trade with the Nashville Predators in August, will be on the bench Monday night as San Jose plays the Detroit Red Wings at SAP Center. The Sharks entered Monday on a three-game losing streak (0-1-2).
How long Askarov will be with the Sharks is unknown as Vanecek, who was injured in the first period of Saturday’s game in Pittsburgh, is considered day-to-day.
But if Vanecek can’t play this week, Askarov figures to get at least one start: Wednesday in Dallas or Thursday in St. Louis.
“It’s a great opportunity for me,” said Askarov, who is signed with the Sharks through the 2026-2027 season. “There’s some good energy. It’s always fun to be here.”
Sharks coach Ryan Warsofsky said Monday that it was too soon to say whether Vanecek, who has a .899 save percentage in 10 games this season, will join the team on its road trip.
As soon as Vanecek is fully healthy, the 22-year-old Askarov might return to the Barracuda. But in the meantime, he’s one of a handful of Sharks players who are 25 or younger, as San Jose right now has the fifth-youngest roster in the NHL at 27.18 years.
It’s a nucleus that includes Celebrini and Smith and twentysomethings like Thrun, Eklund, and Zetterlund, who figure to be in San Jose for a few more seasons, at least.
While Askarov, who shined for the Barracuda through the first month-plus of the AHL season, is not a full-time NHL goalie just yet, his time is coming.
Askarov has been among the AHL’s best goalies this season with a 6-3-0 record and a .939 save percentage in nine games. He was named AHL Goaltender of the Month for October after he went 5-0-0 with a 1.20 goals against average, a 959 percentage, and two shutouts.
Askarov seems to love San Jose, a slightly warmer location than some of the previous places he’s been in his career, like Milwaukee and St. Petersburg, Russia.
“Every day, get some sun, wake it up, go outside,” Askarov said. “It’s perfect. That’s great for my mood.”
Askarov, this season, has worked a lot with Evgeni Nabokov, the Sharks’ director of goaltending.
“He’s had, obviously, a good start to the season down there,” Warosfsky said of Askarov. “He’s come up. He looked good in practice today, and he’ll be up here for a bit.”
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Askarov has played in three career NHL games, with his last one coming on Dec. 30, 2023, when he made 27 saves in the Predators’ 3-2 shootout win over the Washington Capitals at Capital One Arena.
Askarov was asked how his game has grown since then.
“We’ll see when I (play the) next game,” Askarov said, adding that he feels, “feels like a million dollars, maybe more.”
STURM UPDATE: Sturm’s upper-body injury is not considered severe, Warsofsky said, but he’ll miss the games in Dallas and St. Louis, at least. Sturm, who was hurt in last Thursday’s game in New York, leads the Sharks in faceoff percentage (65.6) and is one of the team’s best penalty-killing forwards.
Since the start of last season, the Sharks are 1-17-2 without Sturm in the lineup. That includes their 4-3 shootout loss to the Penguins on Saturday. The Sharks now have Mikael Granlund, Celebrini, Alexander Wennberg, and Luke Kunin playing the middle.
VLASIC UPDATE: Defenseman Marc-Edouard Vlasic joined the Sharks for Monday’s morning skate, but there remains no time frame for him to play. Vlasic, with an upper-body injury, missed all of training camp and has not yet played this season.
Warsofsky said since the Sharks do not have much practice time this week, they plan to include Vlasic in the team’s morning skates to get him some extra work, “and then when we get practicing, he’ll join us in practice.”