- Pro Hockey Rumors names Yaroslav Askarov the Pacific Division player with the most to prove in 2026-27
- Askarov won 21 games and took home a team award, then finished with a .884 save percentage
- Read below for the full numbers on Askarov, Shane Wright and Aatu Raty
Yaroslav Askarov finally got the crease he waited three years for. Holding onto it is the next part.
Bradley Keith of Pro Hockey Rumors wrapped his prove-it series Friday with the Pacific Division, and the San Jose goalie headlines a group of three that also includes Seattle center Shane Wright and Vancouver center Aatu Raty. The series only takes under-25 players coming back to the same team who still have not locked down a role.
Askarov’s first real NHL season reads two different ways depending on where you look. He played 47 games, won 21 of them and was voted the Sharks’ rookie of the year.
The save numbers tell the other half. Askarov finished at .884 with a 3.63 goals-against average, both worse than what Alex Nedeljkovic gave San Jose across 40 games, and his minus-18.9 percent goals saved above expected ranked third worst in the league, per Moneypuck.
San Jose is not rebuilding quietly anymore. The Sharks won 39 games and finished with 86 points last season, then Mike Grier tore up the blue line and pushed the payroll toward the cap. Askarov has one year left at $2MM before he hits restricted free agency.
Wright is in a stranger spot. He is still a Kraken after a summer of trade talk that never found a partner, and his agent said this week the 22-year-old is committed to Seattle. His scoring went backward, 27 points in 74 games after 44 the season before, and his faceoff rate fell to 39.7 percent even with 71.3 percent of his shifts starting in the offensive zone.
Raty at least has one skill nobody argues about. He played 66 games for the worst team in the NHL and managed four goals and 14 points, but he won 60.5 percent of his draws, a top-10 rate leaguewide.
Manny Malhotra, one of the best faceoff men of his generation, now runs the Vancouver bench after the two won an AHL title together in Abbotsford. Nobody is better equipped to turn that one skill into a full third-line job.
| Player | Team | 2025-26 | The number that hurts |
|---|---|---|---|
| Yaroslav Askarov | Sharks | 47 GP, 21-20-4 | .884 SV%, 3.63 GAA |
| Shane Wright | Kraken | 74 GP, 12 G, 27 P | 39.7 percent on faceoffs |
| Aatu Raty | Canucks | 66 GP, 4 G, 14 P | 12:01 a night |
Keith already ran the Metropolitan version of this exercise, where Matvei Michkov drew the same treatment. The Pacific group carries a heavier price tag on a bad year.
Of the three, Askarov carries the heaviest weight. San Jose spent the summer assembling a roster that needs a goalie, and the goalie is the one piece with the least proof behind him.
