The San Jose Sharks added some insurance in net, signing veteran AHL goalie Jakub Skarek to a one-year contract for the NHL minimum of $775,000.
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Skarek, 25, has played most of his North American professional career with the New York Islanders’ AHL affiliate in Bridgeport, where he owned a 49-84-16 record and a .890 save percentage in 161 games. He also played in his first two career NHL games this past season, going 0-1-0 with New York while stopping 34 of 39 shots.
“Jakub has a plethora of professional experience in net at just 25 years old,” Sharks general manager Mike Grier said in a statement. “He is a big, athletic goaltender with a lot of compete in his game.”
The 6-foot-3 Skarek, who had been a Group 6 free agent, figures to start the season with the Sharks’ AHL affiliate, the Barracuda. He’ll likely tandem with Gabriel Carriere, who was signed to a one-year, two-way deal by the Sharks last month. Matt Davis, a two-time NCAA champion with the University of Denver, signed a one-year AHL deal with the Barracuda in April.
The Sharks are projected to start the season with goalies Yaroslav Askarov and Alex Nedeljkovic, and Skarek can be an insurance policy in case either Askarov or Nedeljkovic is injured.
Askarov, 23, is entering his first full NHL season, and the 29-year-old Nedeljkovic, who spent the last two seasons with the Pittsburgh Penguins, has played in 179 NHL games since 2017.