NHL teams don't often make top goalie prospects available in a trade. So, it shouldn't come as a surprise that the Sharks faced heavy competition for Yaroslav Askarov, whom they acquired Friday in a multi-player, multi-pick deal with the Nashville Predators after he requested a move.
Predators general manager Barry Trotz told The Tennessean's Alex Daugherty shortly after the deal became official that four other teams were "serious possibilities" for an Askarov trade. Trotz also classified up to two other teams as "more second-tier possibilities."
In the end, though, Trotz's relationship with Sharks GM Mike Grier, whom he talked to throughout the summer, seemed to make San Jose the preferred trade partner.
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"[Grier] and I touch base a lot," Trotz told The Tennessean. "Always talking about what you might do with your team, this guy or that guy. Then when the [Askanov trade] request was made public, the seriousness of our discussions became a little more real."
Those discussions ended with the Sharks sending the Vegas Golden Knights' 2025 first-round draft pick (acquired in last season's Tomas Hertl trade) and two prospects (center David Edstrom and goalie Magnus Chrona) to the Predators for Askarov, forward prospect Nolan Burke and a 2025 third-round selection.
Edstrom's inclusion in the deal seemed particularly important to Trotz, who told The Tennessean: "I said I wanted to come out with a good center prospect. I'm trying to build our center ice as much as we can."
Edstrom was the Golden Knights' 2023 first-round pick (No. 32 overall) and is just 19. Nashville also now has three first-round selections in the 2025 draft, and replaced Askarov with Chrona in their goalie pipeline.
San Jose Sharks
The Sharks, meanwhile, have their goalie of the future -- and someone they've had their eye on for awhile, despite some maturity questions surrounding the 22-year-old netminder.
"We've talked about him kind off and on over the whole year, probably," Grier told reporters after the trade was announced. "It came up probably a little bit at the draft, and then again afterward.
"He's obviously a super talented goalie, and there's not too many opportunities where you get the chance to go after a young goalie like this and add him to your group. We've kind of been in touch with them probably over the last year."
That patience finally paid off Friday.