Milwaukee, WI—The Admirals have signed goaltender Yaroslav Askarov to a try-out contract for the remainder of the 2021-22 season.

The Predators first round pick (11th overall) in the 2020 NHL Draft, Askarov recently finished his season with SKA St. Peterburg of the KHL where he appeared in six games, going 2-1-2 with a 1.81 goals against average and a .913 save percentage. In parts of three seasons in the KHL he went 8-5-2 with a miniscule 1.48 GAA and a .937 save percentage. Askarov made history on Nov. 27, 2019 by making his KHL debut at the age of 17, becoming the second-youngest goalie to ever start a game in the league.

He’s also seen action for Saint Peterburg’s team in the Russian second league, appearing in 33 games and going 19-8-6 with a 2.42 GAA and a .915 save %.

The 6-foot-4, right-catch goalie also has starred internationally for Russia on several occasions and helped to backstop them to a silver medal at the 2020 World Junior Championships. He featured prominently in two of Russia’s international tournaments in 2019, winning gold at the U-18 Hlinka Gretzky Cup and earning silver at the U-18 World Championship. During the Hlinka Gretzky Cup, Askarov made 35 saves in the championship game against Canada and finished the tournament with a 1.25 goals-against average and .960 save percentage. Despite playing against competition a year older than him, he earned Best Goaltender honors in the U-18 tournament and made 26 stops in Russia’s overtime loss. He also helped Russia to a gold medal in the 2018 World U-17 Hockey Challenge, where he was named a tournament all-star.

Askarov and the Admirals will begin the Calder Cup Playoffs on Friday night at 7 pm at Panther Arena in their best-of-five series against the Manitoba Moose. That will be follow with game two of the series on Saturday at 6 pm.