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

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. … The American Hockey League announced today that Calgary Wranglers forward Rory Kerins, San Jose Barracuda forward Collin Graf and San Jose Barracuda goaltender Yaroslav Askarov have been selected as the league’s award winners for October.

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

Kerins began the season by scoring twice in a 4-3 loss to Abbotsford on opening night. He recorded his first career AHL hat trick on Oct. 16 as the Wranglers defeated Coachella Valley, 3-1, and struck twice more on Oct. 18 during a 5-3 win at Henderson. Kerins scored again to help Calgary rally from two goals down for a 3-2 win over Colorado on Oct. 25, and he closed out the month by scoring in a 6-2 victory over San Diego on Oct. 31, the Wranglers’ ninth win in a row.

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

Graf, the AHL Rookie of the Month, has begun his first pro season by recording points in each of his first seven games, totaling three goals and seven assists for the Barracuda in October.

Graf netted his first professional goal on opening night, part of San Jose’s 5-0 win at Ontario, and he scored again in the rematch with the Reign a night later. 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 helpers in a 5-2 decision at Henderson on Oct. 23. Graf tallied two more assists on Oct. 25 at Henderson, and finished the month by scoring what proved to be the game-winning goal in San Jose’s 5-1 victory over Coachella Valley on Oct. 30.

Graf is the leading point-getter on a Barracuda team that is averaging 5.0 goals per game to date. The 22-year-old native of Lincoln, Mass., signed as a free agent with the San Jose Sharks on Apr. 4, 2024, after completing his junior collegiate season at Quinnipiac University, where he won a national championship in 2022-23 and was named the ECAC Hockey player of the year for 2023-24. Graf made his NHL debut with the Sharks last spring, recording two assists in seven games.

Askarov, the AHL Goaltender of the Month, allowed just six goals on 145 shots over five starts in October, going 5-0-0 with a 1.20 goals-against average, a .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 Oct. 12 and stopping 26 shots in a 5-0 victory over Iowa on Oct. 19. He extended his shutout streak to 151 minutes and 53 seconds while turning aside 26 shots in a 5-2 win at Henderson on Oct. 23, and recorded 29 more saves in a 5-3 win over the Silver Knights on Oct. 25. Askarov closed out the month by making 36 stops as the Barracuda defeated Coachella Valley, 5-1, on Oct. 30.

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