Kerins, Graf, Askarov named prize winners for October | TheAHL.com

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. … The American Hockey League announced today that the Calgary Wranglers are ahead Rory KerinsSan Jose Barracuda ahead Collin Graf and the goalkeeper of the San Jose Barracuda Yaroslav Askarov were named league award winners in October.

Kerins, the AHL Player of the Monthscored nine goals and tallied 11 points in 10 games for Calgary as the team raced to a 9-1-0-0 start to the season.

Krins started the season with two goals in a 4-3 loss to Abbotsford on opening night. He recorded his first AHL hat trick on Oct. 16 as the Wranglers defeated Coachella Valley, 3-1, and scored twice on Oct. 18 in a 5-3 win at Henderson. Krins also scored to help Calgary snap a two-goal deficit in a 3-2 win over Colorado on Oct. 25, and capped the month with a goal in a 6-2 win over San Diego on Oct. 31, the Wranglers' ninth. successive victories.

Kerins' nine goals already put him over half of his 16 total from last season, which was his first full season in the AHL. The 22-year-old from Caledon, Ont., has played 74 games in the AHL with Calgary and Stockton, totaling 26 goals and 19 assists for 45 points. Kerins was a sixth round pick by the Calgary Flames in the 2020 NHL Draft.

Graf, i AHL Rookie of the Monthhas started his first season by recording points in each of his first seven games, including three goals and seven assists for the Barracuda in October.

Graf scored his first professional goal on opening night, part of San Jose's 5-0 win over Ontario, and scored again in a rematch against the Reign the following night. He registered an assist in each of the Barracuda's back-to-back victories over Iowa on Oct. 19 and Oct. 20, and recorded three assists in a 5-2 decision at Henderson on Oct. 23. Graf added two more assistants on Oct. . 25 in Henderson, and capped the month with the game-winning goal in San Jose's 5-1 win over Coachella Valley on Oct.

Graf leads the Barracuda team in scoring with an average of 5.0 goals per game so far. The 22-year-old native of Lincoln, Miss., signed as a free agent with the San Jose Sharks on April 4, 2024, after completing his junior season at Quinnipiac University, where he won a national championship in 2022-23. and was named the 2023-24 ECAC Hockey Player of the Year. Graf made his NHL debut with the Sharks last spring, recording two assists in seven games.

Askarov, i AHL Goaltender of the Monthallowed just six goals on 145 shots in five starts in October, going 5-0-0 with a 1.20 goals-against average, .959 save percentage and two shutouts.

Askarov began his third professional season with back-to-back shutouts, making 22 saves in a 5-0 win at Ontario on October 12 and stopping 26 shots in a 5-0 win over Iowa on October 19. He extended his closure. clocked 151 minutes and 53 seconds while turning away 26 shots in a 5-2 win at Henderson on Oct. 23, and recorded another 29 in a 5-3 victory over the Silver Knights on Oct. 25. Askarov closed for a month. making 36 stops as the Barracuda defeated Coachella Valley, 5-1, on Oct. 30.

Askarov posted a 61-29-6 record with a 2.48 goals-against average, .913 save percentage and 11 shutouts in 97 AHL outings with San Jose and Milwaukee. He was selected to participate in the AHL All-Star Classic in his first two seasons, and was named to the AHL Top Prospects team for 2023-24 after finishing second in the league in wins (30) and shutouts (6) and fifth in GAA (2.39). The 22-year-old from Omsk, Russia, also helped Milwaukee reach the Western Conference finals in 2023 and 2024. Originally a first-round pick (11th overall) by Nashville in the 2020 NHL Draft, Askarov has made three National Hockey League appearances; was acquired by the Sharks on Aug. 23, 2024.