The Sharks don’t have a full-blown goaltending controversy yet, but they do have a clear trend. Twelve games into the 2026-27 season, Alex Nedeljkovic has done more to steady the crease than Yaroslav Askarov, and San Jose has to live with that reality for now.
Askarov was supposed to open the year as the guy in net. He did.
But the consistency that San Jose needs from its hopeful goalie of the future still hasn’t shown up. He’s 3-4-0 with a 3.43 goals-against average and an .883 save percentage, numbers that won’t carry a team trying to snap a playoff drought.
Nedeljkovic, meanwhile, has quietly taken control of the job. He’s 3-1-1 with a 2.37 GAA and a .902 SV%, and even after a rough night in Boston - five goals allowed in a loss to the Bruins - he’s still been the sharper option.
Strip out that Bruins game, and his save percentage climbs to .917. He has given up more than three goals only once.
Askarov has done that three times already.
The veteran has also delivered in the moments that matter most. Nedeljkovic was in goal for a shootout win over the Nashville Predators and overtime victories against the St.
Louis Blues and Montreal Canadiens. That matters.
He has shown he can grind out results through messy stretches, while Askarov is still learning how to do that on a regular basis.
That doesn’t mean the Sharks should park Askarov on the bench and forget about him. The better move is a committee approach, with Nedeljkovic getting the heavier workload and the tougher assignments.
At 24, Askarov is still very young for a goalie. Dominik Hasek didn’t really hit his stride until he was 29.
Tim Thomas was already in his 30s before he found the game that led to multiple Vezina Trophies and a Conn Smythe. Netminding can take time, and Askarov has the physical tools.
He just has to figure it out.
San Jose has already shown a willingness to manage young players this way. Will Smith, Michael Misa and Sam Dickinson all had rookie-season stretches where they sat, rotated and learned on the fly.
The same approach makes sense in goal. Give Askarov room to grow without overloading him, and let Nedeljkovic handle the stronger opponents when the schedule lines up.
That plan got a boost from one of Askarov’s better outings, too. He stopped a career-high 41 shots in a 6-2 win over the Senators in Ottawa, and for a night he looked like the goalie who had the organization excited in November 2025.
That version is still in there. The Sharks just haven’t seen him often enough.
The bigger picture remains simple: patience is still in order. Askarov has only played 70 NHL games, and there are 72 games left on the schedule. Plenty of time remains for him to settle in.
For now, though, the crease belongs to Nedeljkovic until further notice, unless injury or a serious drop-off changes the picture. He has been steadier and more capable of masking San Jose’s defensive mistakes.
The timing of all this matters, too. Last season, goaltending was part of why the Sharks fell short of the playoffs by four points. The revamped blue line has helped, but it still includes young players working through growing pains and veterans who can still contribute but may no longer be at their peak.
The next stretch will test Ryan Warsofsky’s handling of the situation. San Jose’s next four games are at home against the Buffalo Sabres, Vancouver Canucks, Senators and Calgary Flames. The cleanest split would have Nedeljkovic against Buffalo and Calgary, with Askarov getting Vancouver and Ottawa - the latter a team he just beat on the road.
Then comes a road trip to face the Los Angeles Kings, Minnesota Wild and Dallas Stars. Because the Wild and Stars are back-to-back, Askarov should slot in against the Kings, then Nedeljkovic against the Wild, with Askarov back in for Dallas.
That kind of balance could matter if the Sharks want to be where they need to be by Thanksgiving. Historically, teams in a playoff position by the American holiday have been much more likely to reach the postseason. Since the NHL adopted its current wild-card format, 77% of teams in a playoff spot by Thanksgiving have made the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Warsofsky’s next month will say plenty about how much he trusts each goalie. San Jose can’t afford the kind of slide that wrecked its season a year ago, especially with playoff expectations hanging over this one.
In Other News...
Sharks Early Success Is Hiding A Problem That Could Catch Up Fast
The early returns have been encouraging enough for the Sharks to bank points, but the backbone of that success has been special teams rather than what happens at five-on-five. San Jose has leaned hard on power-play and penalty-kill production to stay afloat, even as its even-strength play has lagged behind, leaving the club with a much shakier underlying profile than the standings suggest.
Coach Ryan Warsofsky has pointed to chemistry, puck support and quicker neutral-zone transitions as the fixes, but the recent six-game road trip did not bring much obvious progress. Macklin Celebrini and Tyler Toffoli have carried much of the even-strength scoring load, while some of the fourth-line depth has yet to chip in at that level, a reminder that the margin for error could shrink fast if the special teams stop carrying so much of the weight. [Read more 🡒]
Sharks Shuffle Lines Again After Another Defensive Letdown
The Sharks spent their first home practice after a six-game road trip sorting through the fallout from another defensive letdown, and Ryan Warsofsky wasted little time shuffling the board. San Jose altered both its defensive pairs and forward combinations as the club looked to reset after a rough loss to the Boston Bruins, with players and the coach acknowledging the need for cleaner work in its own end.
Among the changes, the staff mixed up the blue line and gave Ivar Stenberg a new look in the forward group, a sign the Sharks are still searching for the right fit after a stretch of uneven play. The moves were part of a broader attempt to stabilize a team that has not found much rhythm defensively, and the next test will show whether the reshuffled group can turn practice adjustments into something more reliable on game night. [Read more 🡒]
Senators Catch Sharks At A Good Time In Crucial Road Matchup
The Sharks have shown real signs of progress under Ryan Warsofsky, even if the growing pains are still easy to spot. San Joses five-on-five play has improved enough to suggest the rebuild is moving in the right direction, but defensive lapses continue to pop up, and the injury situation has made the margin for error even thinner. Macklin Celebrini remains central to whatever momentum the club can generate, while the upcoming stretch against Buffalo, Vancouver, Ottawa and Calgary gives the Sharks a chance to keep stacking small improvements against a busy schedule.
Igor Chernyshov and Alexander Wennberg have both been sidelined by upper-body injuries, which leaves San Jose trying to patch together its center depth at a time when structure matters most. The Sharks cant afford to let the defensive side of the puck slip in the coming road tests, especially with Ottawa looming in a matchup that could tell us a lot about how far this group has come. The encouraging part is that the foundation is starting to look sturdier, but the injury ledger and the teams consistency still leave one important question hanging over this trip. [Read more 🡒]