I highly respect all of your posts on this subject, but every one of them is a negative comment about Askarov the person and how he is not a great prospect of a goalie. Every publication out there has him as the top, if not second best goaltending prospect in the world. I think that Nashville and Trotz are incredibly screwing this up, a very assinine move signing Wedgewood for 2 years. He could definitely pull a Radulov and leave for a more lucrative 2-3 year contract in Russia, and make 3-5 Million more. The KHL is the wild wild west and certain teams don't give a damn about any NHL agreement, heck they just signed McLeod and Dube. Bottom line is that he is a very good goalie, and saying he's a bad one and not ready because of one bad playoff year, is silly. In Montreal Carey Price and Patrick Roy had some lousy playoff years, it's a small sample. Again, I respect your many comments on this post but it's almost like you ARE Barry Trotz hiding behind that moniker.
I am not negative at all on Askarov's potential. I just voted for him as Nashville's #1 prospect, and I do firmly believe he has the potential to be a great (possibly elite) #1 NHL goalie.
As a person, I like him even more. In Nashville, we watched some of the video/instagram stuff he put out when he first came over. He married really young, and seems to be a really fun-loving and genuine person. I think he's a free-spirited guy who is a breath of fresh air character-wise. Like his Borat costume above, he obviously has a sense of humor and even his antics on the ice show creativity and spirit. I love all that. I'm not sure stodgy NHL GMs do, but I love it.
But all of that can exist in parallel to the basic observations of his on-ice goaltending ability. He has absolutely elite skill in a couple of areas (legwork, reflexes/quickness), but he also has big holes in his technique. I believe that fixing those holes was a very doable task, and was firmly within his reach. It might have taken another year or two in the AHL, but I was very confident he would get there. Was. Now I'm less sure, since this stunt potentially sidesteps following through on that process.
Mentioning his AHL playoff failures only helps to illustrate the weaknesses in his game and how he is not YET fully ready. It is no "final" indictment. I believed he could have overcome those failures and emerge just as I say above as an elite NHL starter. But again, that doesn't just happen "by magic". It requires him recognizing and working on the things that led to those failures. Now I'm wondering if he is willing to do that.
But you are very wrong about your thoughts on his Russia options. He can't sign there while he is under contract in the NHL. Or if he does, it will ignite a huge war. I don't think either league is ready for that. And even if he did go that route, he's not an established KHL player. He probably would not make more than $1M there. KHL salaries are simply not that high for young unproven players. He would be more likely to make closer to the $200k that he got last season with the Preds (albeit without taxes, so yes, still more). Russia has lots of good young goalies. They are not going to make waves over Askarov. I think that's one area where Askarov made a big mistake with his bluff. He has no real Russia option. The Preds could simply make him sit and earn $0 while suspended. If he had just waited 1 more year, let his ELC expire, absorb the training from Mitch Korn and the 60 starts in Milwaukee they were planning for him, then he'd have been in a much much better position to demand a trade (or sign an offer sheet) next summer. He jumped the gun.
LOL, for a couple a months.
Until July 1st, 2025. Unless an ELC can be tolled if he's suspended? Then he might have to wait until he's 27?
