Jankowski, Tverberg, Askarov named award winners for January

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. … The American Hockey League announced today that Milwaukee Admirals forward Mark Jankowski, Toronto Marlies forward Ryan Tverberg and Milwaukee Admirals goaltender Yaroslav Askarov have been selected as the league’s award winners for January.

Jankowski, the AHL Player of the Month, tallied seven goals and 11 assists for 18 points along with a plus-15 rating in 11 games, helping Milwaukee to a perfect record during January.

Jankowski led an Admirals offense that outscored its opponents 46-17 while posting an 11-0-0 record in January. He registered four assists in a 5-0 win over Colorado on Jan. 6, and assisted on the game-winning goal with 1:46 remaining in the third period of a 3-2 decision at Grand Rapids on Jan. 10. Jankowski had another four-point game with two goals and two assists in a 7-0 victory at Henderson on Jan. 13, the start of a six-game scoring streak. He added a goal and an assist in a 5-4 win over Texas on Jan. 19 and scored twice in regulation, including his second shorthanded goal of the month, to help the Admirals to a 4-3 shootout win over Belleville on Jan. 24.

Jankowski has climbed to third in the AHL scoring race with 44 points (15 goals, 29 assists) in 37 games for Milwaukee this season; he also has one goal in two appearances in the NHL with the Nashville Predators. An eighth-year pro from Hamilton, Ont., Jankowski has skated in 156 games in the AHL with Milwaukee, Rochester and Stockton, totaling 64 goals and 87 assists for 151 points and earning a spot on the AHL All-Rookie Team in 2016-17. He was originally a first-round selection by the Calgary Flames in the 2012 NHL Draft and has notched 50 goals and 43 assists in 324 career NHL games with Calgary, Pittsburgh, Buffalo and Nashville.

Tverberg, the AHL Rookie of the Month, scored five goals and added 10 assists for 15 points in 11 games for the Marlies during January.

Tverberg’s month was highlighted by a five-point performance in an 8-0 win over Belleville on Jan. 12, in which he registered the first four-goal game by a Marlies skater in more than 10 years. Tverberg netted the game-winning goal in a 5-2 victory at Charlotte on Jan. 20 to begin a five-game scoring streak, a run that also included three assists at Cleveland on Jan. 24.

A seventh-round pick by the Toronto Maple Leafs in the 2020 NHL Draft, Tverberg has seven goals and 18 assists for 25 points in 23 games for the Marlies this season. The 22-year-old native of Richmond Hill, Ont., played three seasons at the University of Connecticut and twice named a Hockey East All-Star.

Askarov, the AHL Goaltender of the Month, was a perfect 8-0-0 in his eight starts during January, stopping 224 of 238 shots overall for a 1.73 goals-against average, a .941 save percentage and three shutouts.

Askarov opened the month with back-to-back shutouts against Colorado, stopping 30 shots in the Admirals’ 1-0 overtime win on Jan. 5 and 26 shots in a 5-0 decision a night later. On Jan. 12, he made 34 saves for his third shutout in a four-game span as Milwaukee blanked Henderson, 2-0. On Jan. 19-20, he earned consecutive victories over Texas as the Admirals put some distance between themselves and the second-place Stars at the top of the Central Division, and he had a 21-save night in a 5-2 victory over Rockford on Jan. 26.

In 23 games for Milwaukee this season, Askarov (16-6-1) ranks third in the AHL with a 2.18 goals-against average and fifth with a .921 save percentage. He has also made two appearances with Nashville in 2023-24, earning his first career NHL win with a 27-save effort at Washington on Dec. 30. The 21-year-old native of Omsk, Russia, was the Predators’ first-round choice (11th overall) and the first goaltender selected in the 2020 NHL Draft, and went 26-16-5 with a 2.69 GAA, a .911 save percentage and three shutouts for Milwaukee as a rookie in 2022-23 before helping the Admirals reach the Western Conference Finals.