Being good, but short of great in the AHL. He's the backup in Florida next season though.
Devon Levi was dominant in the AHL last season. Probably the single best performance of any young goalie in the AHL last season. Sebastian Cossa, was arguably the best goalie in the AHL from Jan 1-on (looked like something finally clicked). Dustin Wolf has had 3 great AHL years and was great in the AHL last year before securing his job in the NHL. Joel Blomqvist looked VERY good as a rookie. IMO all those guys had better seasons than Askarov had last year.
I'm not saying Askarov is bad or anything, but he didn't show that he's a 100% sure thing last year either. Wallstadt and Askarov have been very similar the last two seasons. They have performed well and looked like NHL goalies with starting potential. If I was betting on any of them being a star, it would be Levi. I think he has the best chance. Cossa has the highest ceiling. Wallstadt is most likely to end up a dependable starter (he looks like a sure thing there, but probably short of a star). Askarov has star potential, but some boom/bust to him.
I 100% get the argument that the Avs should grab a young high end goalie. Just simply stating the cost is high on those.
On a different note, I think we are on the verge of the pendulum swinging goalies. For the last 5 or so years, we've had very few high end guys coming up and the position is as weak as it has been in the NHL in a very long time. The 16-23 has some guys who could very well change that quickly.