Might happen unfortunately. They're due and with their goaltending it's entirely possible, especially against a rival.
I’m not disagreeing with anything after your first four words here, but they beat the Habs, who are a complete and utter joke. They have the third lowest points percentage in the league, behind only the honky tonk retirement club and Chicago lol.
Askarov is posting a .937 in the AHL in addition to his .927 the NHL. He is living up to the hype, and still only 22 years old.I honestly think the only reason Askarov isn't on the roster over Vitekwood is for the same reason Schmid kept getting sent down as soon as Blackwood would come back from injury, despite being the far superior goalie that season. They aren't gonna waive either of those guys, as both are on expiring deals and would probably be claimed. And they won't do the three goalie thing, just like we wouldn't. Most teams won't, but a few of them have been doing it for a while. Detroit being one of those teams.
But I didn't follow the Sharks preseason enough to know if Askarov had a poor preseason or camp. He looked great in the couple of games he played while Vitek was injured recently. Best numbers on the team, but he only played 2 games and was sent right back when Vitek came back after a week or two injured.
He's the only guy I may one day regret not picking up, especially since Markstrom/Allen are old and Daws is still a gigantic sized question mark. And not to mention we could have even picked him over Holtz back in the 2020 also!
But yeah, Saros, Swayman and Hellebuyck were never made available. I suggested Ullmark a year ago, but was more interested in maybe renting him for a year, and was fearing what we might have had to extend him for.
I am of the opinion that Mercer's reputation around the league is pretty high, and I would certainly dangle him in a deal for an upgrade at wing. Unfortunately, he is just not taking that next step that we had all hoped he would. He is an extremely poor defensive player and disappears for too many stretches at a time.
Although the matchups are not drastic, the O-zone starts are. Kova and Sieg's are both in the low 30's percent wise since Hughes and Pesce returned.
Extremely poor defensive player? What is this based on?
And in general his offensive game is not about puck possession. What he's good at offensively is finishing around the net. Which is not to say he can't, or doesn't need to improve in the puck possession dept, and at this point his shot generation needs to improve as he is on pace for a career low, but what has made him successful offensively coming into this year is finishing chances at a high rate.
I think it unlikely given his small stature and Fitz's recent moves to make the team bigger and stronger.
