Quoting: Suzuki_Cup
From what I saw, people seem to be very hyped with the dman for next year (Hughues, Clarke, Power...), but there are always good forwards. As good as Rossi and Raymond are, they are not as good as Raty or Lafrenière. If I was them, and IF they believe Askarov is the player they want (Yzerman is great for surprises) and he's still available at 9, I don't see why they wouldn't take him. They may even take him at 4 if they like him. Remember last year, they could have traded down at least 5 spots and still got Seider, but they decided not to.
Edit : The truth is that Askarov will be one of the 5 best goalies in the league in his prime, and as I said, Detroit will be in rebuild for many other years. Goalie take longer to develop, so why not take him this year, and stack forward in the years to come.
Luke Hughes might go mid-first round. Clarke and Power are currently a step ahead of him and it would take a massive year for Hughes to jump.
Let's look as Vasilevskiy as a rough comparable for Askarov: an absolute stud between the pipes, without argue one of the top-five goaltenders in their prime. He's also been a massive detriment to the Lightning due to his cap hit: all of their eggs are in one basket, and when Andrei falters, the entire team does. Having the best goaltender rarely results in Stanley Cup victories. Having the strongest tandem however, at the very least puts you in the conversation. I'm not saying Askarov will immediately price himself similarly to Vasi upon his ELC ending, but how much of a difference in either the standings, the playoffs, or in general (ie: wins above replacement or goals saved above average) does Askarov+general backup net Detroit over a potential Demko-Wallstedt tandem?
Goaltenders are super, super important to NHL success but after a certain threshold they aren't worth vast investments. A pair of goaltenders reliably capable of giving a team .918-.925 performances are likely more valuable than one goaltender that hits .933-.950 but has very little behind him in terms of support. If sports science, and thus the teams that subscribe to the data it provides, are opting to move towards a two-goaltender, 41 games apiece approach, I cannot justify passing up on a dynamic forward for the extra 1-2% difference in sv% Askarov might offer over Demko.