The Sharks have been looking to add depth to their goaltender room, and they have found their guy, signing former Islanders goaltender Jakub Skarek to a one-year league minimum contract.
With Nedeljkovic and Askarov in place at the NHL level for next season, the Sharks have been looking to add a veteran netminder to complement their younger options at the AHL level in Gabriel Carrier and Matt Davis. Signing Skarek accomplishes this, but also doesn't necessarily give me confidence in his ability to fill that role successfully.
The 25-year-old Czech native was a 3rd-round pick for the Islanders back in 2018 and has spent the last 7 seasons with the organization that drafted him. In that time, he has compiled 161 games at the AHL level, posting an 890% save percentage, never posting a save percentage above 900% in any of his 7 seasons. Skarek also got into two games for the Islanders this past season, posting an 872% in the small sample size.
While the numbers are poor, it is worth noting that Skarek was routinely backstopping a horrible team in Bridgeport that made the playoffs just once in his seven years, and won 15 games this past season. A change of scenery may improve his numbers in what is hopefully a more stable environment. And at 25, Skarek is still young for a goaltender, so there is still room to grow.
Even with that, however, I'm not a fan of this signing. While a third goaltender isn’t a big deal, the Sharks have little experience in net behind Alex Nedeljkovic at the NHL level. At the same time, while Askarov is a top prospect he has yet to be tested for a long stretch at the NHL level, and while they have insurance in Nedelkjovic, in the event of an injury, Skarek being the top call-up option is not ideal given his lack of NHL experience, and results at the AHL level. A veteran goaltender with more experience at both the AHL and NHL level would have made more sense in my view, but the Sharks clearly see enough in Skarek to trust him in this role. Time will tell if they made the right call.