We need to talk...

We need to talk, as Askarov's numbers are yet to improve for the start of the season. It's time to start thinking about other options as our 1A goaltender. In this video, we're going to break down everything about Askarov's slow start to the season and talk about, is it time to take some action? So you're not going to miss this episode of Sharks Digest. But before we dive into everything here, I just want to say around the road, for 4,000 subscribers around the channel, so if you're new here, If you want to stay up to date on the latest news around the San Jose Sharks, we're home for it here on YouTube. Subscribe below. Hit that subscribe button. It is completely free to do so. But yes, guys, it's time to talk. Like, we're talking about Askarov now. I have a lot of faith in this goaltender. I do. I want to put that out first. I have a lot of faith in this guy. I believe in him. I definitely think he can be a 1A starter for us going forward. But at this point in the season, we're through, what, his first five starts? And it hasn't looked good. Like, he has made some good saves. He has looked good at times. It has seen flashes of brilliance, but we haven't seen it really consistent. Like, we've seen, obviously, some goals that, you know, he has given up this year haven't been his fault. Like, it's been a lot of it. It's been on the defense. A lot of it's been on us just can't getting the puck out of our zone and just being hounded in our zone. And, yeah, you know, that's a big part of it, right? But when we look at the numbers here, it is glaringly obvious that Askarov may not be the starter for us this season. So let's kind of talk about it. like I said, we need to talk about this because it might be time to act on it. So let's dive into it, guys. And you know, that hurts me to say for all you guys who know how much I love Yaroslav Askarov. So yeah, let's talk about it, guys. I mean, Askarov, start demands action, right? That's the big thing I just want to talk about today is like, I think that having the start that he has been having, it demands action. We see him, look, an 8.85, an 8.86, an 8.08, an 8.50, and then an 8.00 in last night's game, two wins, three losses but looking at the start by start here look at the goals against three four five three five that's a lot of goals to give up for a goaltender here early on in his career and I think it's maybe time that we take a look at another option that can get us into the playoffs this season in Connor Hellebuyck so we're going to dive into that in just a second but I do just want to continue on with Askarov's season as we put those numbers together it puts him at an .848 save percentage after his first five starts of the season which isn't great we all wanted him to be up in that .900 uh percentage by now like after the first you know maybe three games i was like okay you know his three starts i was like yeah you know he's good right he's got two wins he's only lost one like this isn't really costing us games but now he's lost three in a row and we're kind of just like okay maybe this is costing us games there has been your has been goals that yeah he would tell you he'd want back like i know there has been and uh you know it is glaringly obvious that to everybody watching that he is a good goaltender as well there is flashes of brilliance in these games making game saving saves high danger chance saves uh but you know when it comes to like the ones that maybe he should save they're just going in right i know it's a lot of two-on-ones i know it's a lot of shots that goaltenders can stop but the numbers aren't lying here guys and they're not right just looking at his high danger save percentage is at an .825 which is good like it's really good but it's everywhere else like In the medium danger, he's only at a .750, which has really decreased since last season. And his low danger has even decreased since last season as well. So his high danger has gone up, but his low danger and medium danger have gone down. So we don't want that. We want him to be consistent on the ones that he can save. And then on the high danger ones, we could have had that one, but hey, it's a high danger chance given up. But it's great that he's saving a lot of these high danger chances for sure. But, you know, we are giving breaks to the easy goals that he should save, right? So that's unfortunate that that's happening to Askarov. And like I said, I wanted to say at the beginning of this video, I have a lot of faith in him, and I do believe that he can be a better goaltender. But we need to talk. That's all. We're just talking. We're just talking. I mean, why make the call? It's more reliable saves to support the young core. We're talking about, obviously, calling for Connor Hellebuck at this point. Five games raise concern without defining his career. yeah you know like it raises concern for sure that you know we're not getting the best quality goaltending out of Askarov that we all expected coming into this season especially by the numbers right when you look at the numbers they've been bad but he has made some good saves in these games there's no doubt about it and just looking here the defensive mistakes still need fixing right that's a big part right the defense are still collapsing we're still getting hemmed in our zone we're still not winning pucks we're not winning battles and that's leading to a lot of these goals But, you know, if we have an elite goaltender like Hellebuck, he will make a lot of these stops. I do believe so. So let's just kind of get into it here. Connor Hellebuck offers a proven ceiling, right? He's a Vezina-winning goaltender. He's a great goaltender. Yeah, maybe had a down year last year, but I definitely think he can get back up to the goaltender we all know he can be. An .895 save percentage right now. Our last season, 23 wins last year. He's a Vezina-winning goaltender, guys. Just look at his career stats. He's so good, right? Like just two seasons ago, he ended the season with a .925 and won the Vezina. And the season before, a .921, a .920, a .910. He's been in a .910s plus his entire career besides last year. And I don't think this is a, I think it's just a coincidence. I think Connor Hellebuck still has a lot of winning years left in him. And I think getting him to the Sharks right now would be a necessity. I do think that our offense is good. And I think it's ready to get to the playoffs. We just need a goaltender that's going to bail us out when we make a bad mistake. And right now, if that is not Askarov, it is going to be Hellebuck, in my opinion. So, let's just kind of look again at Hellebuck. He was expected to have an .895 last year. It wasn't like, you know, he wasn't bad. And like, an .895, I'm still, that's still not bad. You're only .005 percentage points off a .900. Like, we're not talking about an .850 or anything like this. It's still good numbers. Obviously, not by Connor Hellebuck's standards. But, you know, that's it. And, you know, obviously his goals against was down last year. But, you know, he still had a solid year. Like, the whole Winnipeg Jets team had a bad year last year, barring Mark Scheifele and Kyle Connor. But, you know, we just need, you know, a change in the goaltending position right now. And we take a look here. Several months ago, you know, Connor Hellebuck privately requested a trade. Still hasn't been traded. He's suspended right now, not getting paid, waiting for a trade to come through. And this is why we pursue Connor Hellebuck. He's established high-end starting track record. a fresh start could help both sides and last season makes this a rebound bet obviously he wants to come back and prove everybody he is a Vezina winning goaltender no better place to do that than with the land of all the young stars in the Bay Area in San Jose so I really do like that to be honest with you guys so let's just kind of look at what the offer is San Jose offers Askarov Graf and a first so that's kind of what I got going there obviously yeah I'd hate to see Connor Graf go I think he's a great player but you see here it's Askarov Graf and a first going for Connor Hellebuck so hopefully you know we could see this happen where Connor Hellebuck comes to San Jose for this price obviously we give up Askarov and Graf but the reason I'm fine with giving up Graff here guys is because we have guys like Musty who's waiting for his chance to get up and I think this would be a chance for Musty to get up into this roster I really do think it is and I'd be fine with replacing Graff with Musty in this lineup to be honest with you guys so that's kind of where i'm at at this point like Graff has you know but he has one point on the year so far has him playing mostly fourth line minutes which you know isn't really helping him at all like i'd rather see you know a guy like you know Musty or someone down there or even like getting Musty up on the third line and you know his recent form he's been getting a lot of shots on goal just hasn't been finding the back and then he has signed a new extension with 4.25 million dollars over the next three years so he is a guy who could really help the cap work for this Connor Hellebuyck trade as well. And just why the Jets would consider this, Askarov offers a young goaltending option. Graff adds an established NHL forward. At first, it adds future value for this team as well. And Winnipeg can still reject the offer, obviously. But I do think this matches every single criteria that, obviously, Kevin Cheveldayoff put out that he wanted for Connor Hellebuyck. So, and obviously, a big reason, again, why I do like this trade, as we see here from one of you guys in the comments section, they say, I'm not on the train to do it, But if they do, the Sharks have Ravensburg to be there for the future. Hellebuck can help immediately. And in three years' time, Ravensburg is immediately ready to come in and be a starter. And I have a lot more faith in Ravensburg being our 1A goalie of the future than I do Askorov at this point in time. So I like getting Hellebuck in for now. Then you have a young goaltender ready to step up in Ravensburg. And I definitely think this is the way to go for the San Jose Sharks. I really do. The more I think about it, the more I kind of stew on it, And the more I, like, oh, I don't want to get on another video talking about this and being in favor of Hellebuck, it's kind of, over this last couple of games, it's kind of been like, it makes sense now. It really does. Just seeing the numbers are glaringly obvious. I keep getting on here defending him, saying, yeah, it's, you know, it's just a rut. Like, he's playing better than what the numbers are indicating. But when we see him get three straight losses, you know, that's when it kind of shifts for me. And I'd rather see Connor Hellebuck here, to be honest with you guys. and we kind of see here San Jose can fund the Hellebuck deal for sure they have enough cap space to make this work obviously after the deal is done we see here we'd still have 1.2 million dollars in cap space to make some things work so that works out for us as well and obviously you know we kind of got Hellebuck's deal he comes in it was 8.5 million which isn't bad for you know an elite goaltender like him so I'm taking it to be honest with you guys I think he's a great goaltender and I think he's just looking for a rebound and looking for a chance to show everybody that he is a Vezina-winning goaltender. And why not a better place to do it than here in San Jose? I really do like it. But yeah, let's just talk about what the lineup looks like without Graff in it here after this trade. As we see here, we see, you know what, Brett Leeson comes up here on this fourth line immediately, plays with a stop in Goodrow, and Leeson kind of fits into the mold of this fourth line better than Graff. And then everything kind of stays the same besides Hellebuck and Nedeljkovic being the tandem. I definitely think that's a great tandem. going forward for us to be honest uh and you see the risks are worth weighing Hellebuck must prove approve of that situation which i think he would do in an instant check the readiness after missing camp i think he's ready to go i'll be honest with you guys uh just like you know a goaltender that that's ready to play he is he's ready to play you know he's still working he's not just on the couch he eating you know lays lays potato chips you know like he's he's ready to go you see you're giving up young assets shortens the runway uh but like i said Ravensbergen is right there he's right there to take the reins once Hellebuck starts to decline i don't think the decline has started yet and better saves cannot erase defensive mistakes but with Hellebuck, Hellebuck is a goaltender that teams play better in front of and i think when you have a Vezina winning goaltender in your crease you get a lot more confidence in that the defense get a lot more confidence in that and they'll play a lot better in front of them so like i said guys i just wanted to say we need to talk because i think it's getting to the point now for me where I think I want Hellebuck in this organization and I hate to say that because I am a big Askarov guy I have a lot of faith in this guy I have a lot of faith in the future of him and him being a great goaltender uh but you know it for me right now it just makes sense to go out and get Hellebuck we're we're a great team we're producing great offense we just need great goaltending and right now it's not Askarov it can be I still got a lot of faith like I said I'm not here to harp on Askarov I think he is going to be a great goaltender and i do have a lot of faith in him and i do believe in him but right now in this instance i like Connor Hellebuck more so let me know what you guys think down below in the comment section i'm sure the comments are going to be fun to read on this one uh but i'd love to hear your guys honest opinions i love reading all your guys comments even if you agree or disagree so let me know down below in the comments how you feel uh so while you're down there also leave a like subscribe to the channel i'll be live for watch along tomorrow night against the Nashville Predators so hopefully we'll see all you guys there i'll be back tomorrow with another video kind of teeing up that game so you don't want to miss out on that subscribe to the channel as always I've been your host KC keep it sick on you guys