The San Jose Sharks’ record to start the National Hockey League season paints a deceptively bright picture, masking a troubling reality beneath the surface. While the team’s standing in the Western Conference might suggest a smooth transition into legitimate contention, a closer examination reveals that the Sharks are currently outplaying some truly rotten goaltending from young netminder Yaroslav Askarov. For an organization with genuine playoff aspirations this year, the situation between the pipes is one that needs to be figured out as soon as possible.
Through the first two seasons of his tenure in San Jose, Askarov’s performance has fluctuated wildly. According to data from MoneyPuck, he varied between looking totally fine—saving 1.7 goals above expected across 13 games during the 2024-25 campaign—and looking completely brutal, giving up 18.9 goals below expected in 47 games last season, which stood as the third-worst total in the entire league. Somehow, his start to the current campaign has managed to be even worse. Askarov has stumbled to two goals saved below expected across his first five appearances, accompanied by an unsightly save percentage hovering well below .850.
There have been occasional flickers of hope that indicate he can turn the tide. His play notably picked up in his past two outings, where he registered a .935 save percentage in one game and a .953 save percentage in the next. Yet, for a squad harboring playoff ambitions, those early-season numbers simply remain unacceptable. Furthermore, the team’s current standing has been heavily propped up by three overtime and shootout victories. These extra-session heroics successfully hid the fact that their recent win against the Ottawa Senators marked their very first regulation victory of the season, coming a staggering 11 games into the year.
That the Sharks are even managing to hang around the playoff conversation at this juncture feels like a minor miracle, particularly when considering their underlying numbers. At 5-on-5 play, San Jose has controlled a mere 37.21 percent of the expected goals, ranking among the worst in the league. This deficiency is largely driven by an offense that generates very little, producing just 2.14 expected goals per 60 minutes, which is the fourth-worst rate in the NHL. Their defense has not fared much better, yielding 3.39 expected goals against per 60 minutes, the second-highest mark in the league. According to NaturalStatTrick, the Sharks have also surrendered the fourth-most scoring chances against while allowing the absolute highest volume of high-danger scoring chances in the entire NHL.
Amid these grim metrics, the team’s special teams have strangely run ahead of the league average. However, given the overall low quality of play at even strength, hockey observers would naturally expect those special teams numbers to regress toward the mean eventually.
For the time being, those special teams units are effectively covering up Askarov’s early struggles. While it is true that the skaters in front of him are not exactly putting him in a position to succeed with such a porous defensive structure, Askarov has been flubbing opportunities even beyond those difficult circumstances. The 24-year-old goaltender currently sits in the middle of the pack when it comes to stopping high-danger chances, but he ranks as the sixth-worst netminder in the league when dealing with medium-danger opportunities, posting a sub-par .759 save percentage in that specific area of the ice.
Perhaps these early inconsistencies are the sort of turbulence that sorts itself out over a grueling 82-game schedule. On the other hand, a goaltender who has accumulated a combined .886 save percentage through 67 games with the franchise simply needs to elevate his game.
It is usually difficult to hold poor performances against a goaltender who is tasked with manning the net for a rebuilding or tanking team. But these San Jose Sharks are no longer in a strict tanking mode. While Askarov is far from the only problem on the roster—aside from star forward Macklin Celebrini, nearly anyone on the team could stand to see their play improve—the fact that the Sharks are sitting tied for eighth place in the Western Conference right now feels entirely like smoke and mirrors.
Recent reports have indicated that Sharks General Manager Mike Grier remains wary of what it would cost to acquire an established goaltender on the trade market, largely because he is not yet entirely certain that the Sharks are ready to be truly competitive at an elite level. If that assessment holds true, it is likely the prudent choice for the front office to keep its powder dry rather than burning through valuable salary cap space and trading away future assets prematurely.
The fact that the Sharks are managing to win a decent amount of hockey games despite poor play across the board is not inherently a bad thing at this juncture of the franchise’s trajectory. This remains a young team that onboarded a tremendous amount of new talent over the summer months. The wise approach for now is to simply take the points in the standings and avoid asking too many questions, at least in the opening months of the season.
Nevertheless, the longer this precarious style of winning continues, the more difficult it will become to keep securing victories. In a Pacific Division that has proven to be surprisingly competitive to date, things need to change, and they need to change fast.
Securing a playoff berth has to remain the ultimate goal for this team, or at the very least, the standard they are striving for. So far, however, Askarov has proven to be one of the least impressive starting goaltenders across the league to begin the campaign. If the Sharks ultimately miss out on the postseason because their starting goaltender cannot consistently make routine saves, there will undoubtedly be some serious questions to ask regarding Askarov’s long-term role in the franchise’s future.