Sharks will not bring back pending UFA Alexandar Georgiev for 2025-26

San Jose Sharks general manager Mike Grier is already getting to work building his team for next season.

This week, Grier informed goaltender and pending unrestricted free agent Alexandar Georgiev that he will not be re-signed, ending his short stay with the Bay Area club, reports Curtis Pashelka of The Mercury News.

Added in early December in the deal that shipped fellow netminder Mackenzie Blackwood to the Colorado Avalanche, Georgiev saw 31 showings with the Sharks this season in which he went 7-19-4 alongside an .875 save percentage and 3.88 goals-against average. Combined with his 18 games earlier this year with Colorado, Georgiev wraps up the 2024-25 campaign with a 15-26-4 record coupled with an .875 save percentage and 3.71 goals-against average.

A veteran of 303 career contests counting stops with the New York Rangers, Avalanche, and Sharks, the 29-year-old Bulgarian-born goaltender has established a 151-108-26 career mark with a .903 save percentage, 2.98 goals-against average, and 15 shutouts. Georgiev originally signed with the Rangers in 2017 as an undrafted free agent.

Looking toward the 2025-26 campaign, 22-year-old Russian-born netminder Yaroslav Askarov is expected to take over the starting duties in San Jose. Originally chosen 11th overall by the Nashville Predators in the 2020 NHL Draft, Askarov was acquired last August in exchange for center David Edstrom, goaltender Magnus Chrona, and a conditional first-round selection in the upcoming NHL Draft.

Through 13 appearances with the Sharks this season, Askarov went 4-6-2 with an .896 save percentage and 3.10 goals-against average. Askarov also saw 22 games with the AHL affiliated San Jose Barracuda in which he posted an 11-9-1 showing coupled with a .923 save percentage, 2.45 goals-against average, and four shutouts.

Through 16 NHL games with the Predators and Sharks, Askarov is 5-7-2 with an .899 save percentage and 3.01 goals-against average.