On Monday morning, the San Jose Sharks announced that they recalled top netminding prospect Yaroslav Askarov from their American Hockey League affiliate.
Originally selected by the Nashville Predators, the Sharks acquired him during the 2024 off-season for a sizable package, but solved their long-term goaltending situation. This season for the San Jose Barracuda, the 22-year-old has a .939 save percentage and a 1.92 goals-against average.
Despite the Sharks being one of the worst teams in the league, their goaltenders are strong. Mackenzie Blackwood is in the final season of his contract and has a .914 save percentage and a 2.98 goals-against average in 11 games played – the Oilers should attempt to trade for him. Vítek Vaněček has been solid as well, as he has an .899 save percentage and a 3.36 goals-against average in 10 games played.

Calle Järnkrok is out month-to-month

On Monday morning, the Toronto Maple Leafs announced that Calle Järnkrok had a groin and sports hernia surgery.
Järnkrok has yet to play a game this season but scored 10 goals and 21 points in 52 games with the Leafs in 2023-24. The season prior was a career year for the forward, as Järnkrok scored 20 goals and 39 points in 73 games. Since the 2015-16 season, Järnkrok has scored at least 10 goals and 21 points, as he has 136 goals and 301 points in 699 games so far in his career.
In the postseason, he has five goals and 22 points in 93 games, going on a deep run with the Nashville Predators during the 2017 postseason. Last playoffs, he was held pointless, but had a goal and three points in 11 postseason games during the 2023 postseason.

PWHL is to have nine neutral games next season

The Professional Women’s Hockey League will have a whole bunch of games at neutral sites next season, as the league’s Twitter account announced that there’ll be nine cities hosting neutral games.
Those cities include Seattle, Vancouver, Denver, Québec City, Buffalo, Raleigh, Detroit, and St. Louis. Montréal Victoire will play in four of those neutral games, as they’ll play in Seattle on Jan. 5, Vancouver on Jan. 8, Denver on Jan. 12, and Québec City on Jan. 19.
This comes on the heels of reports that the league wishes to expand in the coming years. Late in October, senior vice president of business operations Amy Scheer told Sportico that the team plans to expand to eight teams as early as the 2025-26 season.
There were a handful of rumoured markets, such as Pittsburgh, Calgary, and Detroit, with the latter getting the opportunity to host a game.
It’ll be interesting to see where the league ends up expanding!
The New York Islanders will be without a defenceman for a few months.
On Monday afternoon, Daily Faceoff’s Frank Seravalli reported that the Islanders will be without defenceman Mike Reilly for a few months due to a heart procedure.
Thankfully, it was discovered early as the team was doing tests for a different injury when it was noticed. So far through 11 games, the left-shot defenceman has been held pointless with two penalty minutes and a +1. Reilly is coming off a career year in 2023-24, where he scored a career-high six goals and 24 points in 61 games.

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