The New Jersey Devils need some help in goal. One 2020 NHL Draft option who could help them is Russian prospect Yaroslav Askarov.
The New Jersey Devils just feel like a National Hockey League team that needs good goaltending at all times. It is in the blood of the organization for them to win with solid defense and goaltending. Martin Brodeur is the greatest goalie who ever lived. When he was done, he passed the torch to Cory Schneider. Don’t let recency bias get in the way of the fact that Schneider was one of the very best goalies in the world for a long time.
Well, as Schneider’s injuries started to pile up, his play started to dip quickly. Now, we wonder if Schneider is going to be bought out or traded but they need to have two good goaltenders in the long term. It looks like they have something sweet in MacKenzie Blackwood. He has been a really good goalie since taking over as the starter of this team. The problem is, he still has a lot more to prove in his career as he continues to develop. With that said, he is off to a good start.
Just because the Devils have Blackwood, doesn’t mean they should be happy with the position right now. He can’t play 82 games and if they don’t have a good goalie to play alongside him it is never going to work. They could go after someone in free agency for the short term, but there might be a long-term answer in the 2020 NHL Draft.
Yaroslav Askarov is the top goaltending prospect in the world. He is literally getting the praise that makes you think long and hard about wanting him. It is said that he is the best goaltending prospect since Carey Price of Andrei Vasilevskiy. Both of them have gone on to be Vezina Trophy-winning goalies that lead their teams. Any time a goaltender is good enough to be talked about as a first-rounder, they should be heavily considered if you need goaltending.
There is a guy like Marc-Andre Fleury who went first overall who is a three-time Stanley Cup Champion that is probably going to the Hall of Fame. Then there are still some up and comers like Ilya Samsonov of the Washington Capitals. He is probably going to take over the net for a long time if Braden Holtby moves on in the free agency period. First-round goalies are rare but usually turn out well.
Askarov could be mentioned in the same breath as those guys in the not so distant future. He is currently a 17-year-old goalie playing for SKA St. Petersburg’s minor team. The VHL is the second-highest ranked pro league of Russian hockey. He played in 18 games for them and had a 2.45 goals-against average and a .920 save percentage. He also got to make one start with the KHL SKA where he also had a .920 save percentage and only gave up two goals.
A notable trait about Askarov is the fact that he catches with his right hand. That is pretty uncommon in NHL goaltenders. That is something that is noted to make shooters change their approach to how they attack. It isn’t something that causes the team that he plays for to change their game at all. No New Jersey defenseman would need to change his game because of having a right-catching goalie but the other teams will certainly need to adjust.
Anything to give yourself an edge would be a plus. The Devils might see having Blackwood as a reason to not draft a goalie but it definitely might be a good idea to bring him in if he is really believed to be a game-breaking goalie.