Habs to acquire top young goalie: Kent Hughes has been linked to top 20-year-old goalie Yaroslav Askarov

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Julien Trekker
March 31, 2023 (8:35)

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As we know, first-round drafted goalies are a rare commodity in the NHL.

Names like Carey Price, Spencer Knight, and of course, Andrei Vasilevskiy come to mind quickly, but we must not forget Russian goaltender Yaroslav Askarov, chosen in the first round and 11th overall by the Nashville Predators in the 2020 draft.

This season, the young netminder made his North American debut with the Predators' AHL affiliate, the Milwaukee Admirals, and let's just say things are going pretty well for him.

In 42 games in the American League, he has collected 24 wins, earned three shutouts, and has an excellent 2.60 goals-against average. He even had his first start with the Preds on January 12th at the Bell Centre, but his team fell 4-3 to the Canadiens.

However, the presence of Juuse Saros in Nashville currently blocks his path to a full-time NHL position. The Finnish goaltender is still under contract with the Predators for two more years, and we wonder if Askarov will have the patience to wait until then to establish himself as a regular NHL goaltender.

He represents one of the best goaltending prospects, and it's very likely that the Preds organization is quietly grooming him to become the organization's number one goalie, much like the Florida Panthers did with Spencer Knight.

But if Yaroslav ever became available on the trade market during the offseason, should Kent Hughes try to acquire him?

Of course, the Canadiens' GM should be interested in his services, but we wonder if the Predators are interested in putting him on the market.

However, as reported by Charles-Alexis Brisebois from Danslescoulisses.com, the Canadiens might have the necessary resources within their organization to make an offer because, after all, all the team needs is a top young goaltender.

But to be honest with you, the asking price from the Predators is likely to be very high, and I wonder if they really intend to trade their goaltender of the future.

But as we know, Kent Hughes has had a knack for surprising us since his arrival with the Habs, and who knows, maybe he has another surprise in store for us.

To be continued, but it's definitely worth looking into.