Askarov will guard the home crease in Thursday's Opening Night matchup against the Panthers, per Curtis Pashelka of The San Jose Mercury News.
Askarov is set to lead the Sharks onto the ice in Thursday's home opener after he put together a solid first full season of work at the NHL level. The 24-year-old backstop put together a 21-20-4 record, a 3.63 GAA and an. 883 save percentage across 47 regular-season outings. While he is coming off a campaign with plenty of ups-and-downs, San Jose's young offensive core is expected to take another step forward this season, and the team also brought in veteran defensemen Darnell Nurse and Jacob Trouba to help shore up the other side of the ice. Because of this, Askarov could be in line to see his numbers go up in 2026-27 while he competes for work against Alex Nedeljkovic. Askarov is a fringe No. 2 goalie option in fantasy to begin the new season.