Yaroslav Askarov will make his San Jose Sharks debut against the St. Louis Blues tonight.

Yaroslav Askarov will make his San Jose Sharks debut against the St. Louis Blues tonight.

With Vitek Vanecek still ruled as day-to-day, Sharks head coach Ryan Warsofsky turns to his 22-year-old top goalie prospect. Askarov has played three prior games in his NHL career with the Nashville Predators. 

"Obviously [he's] a talented kid," Warsofsky said. "[I'm] excited to see what he can do."

Askarov was acquired from Nashville on Aug. 23. San Jose traded a 2025 first-round pick, forward David Edstrom, and goalie Magnus Chrona. Askarov also signed a two-year extension worth $4 million. 

With the Sharks on the second half of a back-to-back, Warsofsky wants the attention of his defense to be top-notch.

"I think every game [we] play, our defense needs to be ready to go. It's the NHL, I don't care who's in the net," Warsofsky said. "We need to be harder in front of our net. We gotta be better in our defensive zone. We have three really good goalies on our roster right now that need to be supported a lot better. It doesn't really matter who's in net."

Mikael Granlund will be in the lineup after leaving last night's game late in the third period. Will Smith will be scratched as part of his development plan, and Givani Smith will come in. Henry Thrun will be a healthy scratch for Jack Thompson.

Make sure you bookmark THN's San Jose Sharks site for the latest news, exclusive interviews, breakdowns, and so much more.

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