SAN JOSE – The San Jose Sharks feel good about the changes they’ve made to their forward group and defense corps, believing that the handful of veterans they’ve added up front and on the back end can make them a more competitive team.
The Sharks are also optimistic that they’ve overhauled their goaltending for the better, with Yaroslav Askarov now taking on a full-time NHL role and the more experienced Alex Nedeljkovic providing some competition for the No. 1 job.
Of course, stats-wise, there was nowhere to go but up. The five goalies the Sharks used last season combined for both the third-worst team save percentage (.881) in the NHL and the highest-goals against average (3.74). The advanced metrics were not much better, if at all.
“We needed to solidify our goaltending position,” Sharks coach Ryan Warsofsky said, “and I thought we did a good job getting a guy like (Nedeljkovic) to compliment (Askarov) as a young pro.”
But as is the case with the Sharks’ skaters, questions remain.
Specifically, how many games might the promising Askarov, 23, be able to play this season as he makes the full-time leap to the NHL and can Nedeljkovic, 29, bounce back after an up-and-down final year with the Pittsburgh Penguins?
How will the workload be split between the two? Can one take control of the net and make more than 50 starts?
As the No. 1 goalie for the Nashville Predators’ AHL affiliate in Milwaukee, Askarov, between the regular season and playoffs, played 60 games in 2022-23 and 51 the following year. Acquired by the Sharks from the Predators in Aug. 2024, Askarov shined in the AHL, but a lower body injury limited him to 41 games total between the Sharks and Barracuda.
Nedeljkovic last season had a career worst .894 save percentage in 38 games with the sinking Penguins, who missed the playoffs for the third straight season and arguably didn’t offer their goalies much support. In 179 career games over the past five seasons, Nedeljkovic, acquired from the Penguins in July, had a .903 save percentage
“(Askarov’s) got to stay healthy, we’ve got to manage him and there’s a lot of data that goes with that,” Warsofsky said. “Ned’s obviously been around the league for a few years now, and I know he’s not going to hand (the No. 1 job) over. He’s a competitive guy, as is Askarov.
“So, we’ll see how it plays out.”
Both Askarov and Nedeljkovic figure to get work in the first month of the season as the Sharks play 16 games over the first 31 days, a stretch that includes games on back-to-back days four times.
For the season, the Sharks play games on back-to-back days 16 times.
CELEBRINI WATCH: Center Macklin Celebrini, who missed two days of training camp last week with what was described as an illness, practiced Wednesday but was again held out of contact drills.
Celebrini returned to practice on Tuesday but worked on faceoff techniques as other forwards battled for the puck along the boards with the team’s defensemen at both ends of the ice. Wednesday, Celebrini worked on his shooting as he faced goalies Gabe Carriere and Matt Davis.
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Celebrini said Tuesday that the illness he dealt with last week was not something he felt before camp began on Sept. 18. It’s unclear when Celebrini will be able to take contact again or if he might be available to take part in Friday’s home preseason game against the Vegas Golden Knights.
“We’ve got a pretty good plan on how we want to approach this,” Warsofsky said of Celebrini’s ailment. “So each day he does a little bit more, and then we’ll let him go.”
OTHER INJURIES: Defenseman John Klingberg (upper body) skated Wednesday morning apart from the main training groups but it still appears doubtful that he’ll be available to play Friday. Klingberg sustained the injury in the Sharks’ 3-0 win over the Golden Knights on Sunday when he played over 21 minutes and scored a second-period power-play goal. … Haoxi (Simon) Wang, drafted 33rd overall by the Sharks in June, has a lower body issue and did not skate Wednesday. Warsofsky said it was more of a maintenance day for Wang and that the issue is “not too serious.”