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Summer Synopsis: Calgary Flames

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The Calgary Flames are in a season of transition for the first time in quite some time. The organization is only three years removed from knocking off the stingy Dallas Stars in the first round of the 2022 Stanley Cup playoffs before losing at the hands of the Edmonton Oilers in five games. Since that run in the playoffs, the Flames have traded away the likes of Matthew Tkachuk, Sean Monahan, Tyler Toffoli, Nikita Zadorov, Elias Lindholm, Chris Tanev, Noah Hanifin, Jacob Markstrom, and Andrew Mangiapane while also seeing franchise icon Johnny Gaudreau leave the team via unrestricted free agency. Not many teams can sustain that level of talent walk out the door but Calgary is fortunate that they didn’t let many find greener pastures for nothing in return.

Draft

1-9: D Zayne Parekh, Saginaw (OHL)
1-28: F Matvei Gridin, Muskegon (USHL)
2-41: F Andrew Basha, Medicine Hat (WHL)
2-62: F Jacob Battaglia, Kingston (OHL)
3-74: D Henry Mews, Ottawa (OHL)
3-84: G Kirill Zarubin, Tula (MHL)
4-106: C Trevor Hoskin, Cobourg (OJHL)
5-150: C Luke Misa, Mississauga (OHL)
6-170: C Hunter Laing, Prince George (WHL)
6-177: D Eric Jamieson, Everett (WHL)

The Flames picked in the top 10 of the draft for the first time since the 2016 NHL Draft. They used the ninth overall selection on Parekh who was listed in the top five of North American skaters and the third-best North American defenseman. He’s a very talented offensive-minded defenseman coming off a season with the Spirit in which he scored 33 goals and 96 points from the blue line in 66 games. He doesn’t project to have the same defensive awareness as Cale Makar of the Colorado Avalanche — but his puckhandling skills and ability to create holes in the ice are eerily similar.

Calgary used their second first-round selection on Gridin who shares a similar ability in opening up space in the offensive zone. Playing for the USHL’s Lumberjacks the past two years after coming over from his native Russia, Gridin has scored 46 goals and 104 points in 100 appearances. He may take a bit longer to develop compared to Parekh as the Flames will see how he fares against stiffer competition but he projects to be a solid scoring option to place in the middle-six.

One of the better picks for the Flames after Day One was the selection of Battaglia from the Frontenacs. He’s an impressively quick player from his footspeed to his passing ability and could feature in Calgary’s top six if his development continues upward. He scored 31 goals and 65 points in 67 games for Kingston this past season but his goal-scoring ability may decrease as he climbs to the NHL.

Trade Acquisitions

D Kevin Bahl (New Jersey)

Bahl was the only player acquired by the Flames this summer but the team also added notable draft picks. In the trade that saw Bahl join the Flames organization, the team also acquired New Jersey’s 2025 first-round pick. Furthermore, Calgary traded Mangiapane to the Washington Capitals a few days before the start of free agency with Washington’s second-round pick in 2025 headed to Alberta.

Because of New Jersey’s depth on the blue line, it took Bahl several years to become a regular fixture in the lineup. Last season, he played in all 82 games for the Devils and scored one goal and 11 points while averaging 17:24 of ice time per night. Due to the departures Calgary saw on their blue line last season, it stands to reason that Bahl could crack the top four with the Flames and receive close to 20 minutes a night.

UFA Signings

D Jake Bean (two-year, $3.5MM)
G Devin Cooley (two-year, $1.55MM)*
F Martin Frk (one-year, $775K)*
F Justin Kirkland (one-year, $775K)*
F Ryan Lomberg (two-year, $4MM)
F Anthony Mantha (one-year, $3.5MM)

* denotes a two-way contract

As expected, the Flames were not very involved in the free agent market this summer and did not sign any deal longer than two years. Bean, Lomberg, and Mantha project as the biggest signings of the offseason with the former being an interesting bounceback candidate. Bean skated in 73 games for the Columbus Blue Jackets last season and scored four goals and 13 points overall but is not far removed from being a top-15 pick in the 2016 NHL Draft.

Lomberg spent much of the last four years serving as a depth piece for the Florida Panthers but should earn a regular bottom-six role with the Flames. Over the last three years in Florida, Lomberg skated in 212 games while scoring 26 goals and 45 points but the most notable aspect of his game became his physicality. Lomberg amassed  445 hits over those three years with the Panthers and should make Calgary’s bottom six much more annoying to play against.

Mantha is another potential rebound candidate for the Flames and should get regular minutes in the top six and the team’s powerplay. Before being traded to the Vegas Golden Knights last year, Mantha scored 20 goals in 56 games for the Washington Capitals but floundered dramatically after being traded. The Golden Knights went as far as to make Mantha a healthy scratch for the playoffs but now has an opportunity to rebuild his value in Alberta.

RFA Re-Signings

D Jonathan Aspirot (one-year, $775K)*
F Adam Klapka (one-year, $775K)*
D Yan Kuznetsov (one-year, $775K)*
F Yegor Sharangovich (five-year, $28.75MM)
G Dustin Wolf (two-year, $1.7MM)

* denotes a two-way contract

As the main piece acquired in the trade that sent Toffoli to the Devils last offseason, Sharangovich greatly impressed with the Flames this year leading to a heavy commitment from the organization. With a bigger opportunity in Calgary, Sharanovich averaged nearly two more minutes of ice time per night as compared to his time in New Jersey and scored 31 goals and 59 points for the Flames in 82 games. The young forward finished second on the team in scoring as well as leading the team in goals. He will have his work cut out for him if he plans on being the leading scorer for Calgary but he is exactly the type of forward they need if they hope to keep their head above water.

The other notable re-signing for the Flames this summer is Wolf who’s contract may already be a bargain. Wolf has struggled in his brief time in the NHL up to this point but he is firmly the goaltender of the future after the team sent Markstrom packing for the East Coast earlier this offseason. His play in the AHL over the last several years has earned him quite the pedigree as a prospect as he’s accrued a record of 97-32-10 in 141 games played while averaging a .926 save percentage and 2.29 goals against average.

Departures

D Dennis Gilbert (Buffalo, one-year, $825K)
F A.J. Greer (Florida, two-year, $1.7MM)
F Ben Jones (Minnesota, two-year, $1.55MM)*
D Oliver Kylington (Colorado, one-year, $1.05MM)
F Andrew Mangiapane (traded to Washington)
G Jacob Markstrom (traded to New Jersey)
D Jordan Oesterle (Boston, two-year, $1.55MM)*
D Colton Poolman (Buffalo, one-year, $755K)*

* denotes a two-way contract

Thanks to their actions on the trade market throughout the 2023-24 NHL season, the Flames didn’t have much in the way of departures on the free-agent market. The most notable departure in free agency came in Kylington who the team had previously expressed a desire to keep around. The Swedish defenseman spent the entirety of his career in the Flames organization since being drafted in the 2015 NHL Draft and chose to leave for a more competitive opportunity in Colorado.

The deal sending Markstrom to the Devils had been in the making for several months as the two teams were close to a deal at last year’s trade deadline. The return for Markstrom seemed underwhelming as the Flames only acquired a first-round pick in 2025 and Bahl as previously mentioned. However, the team already had Wolf waiting in the wings and the team can get out from under Markstrom’s $6MM salary for the next two years.

The departure of Mangiapane was more surprising than the deal sending Markstrom to New Jersey as it fully committed the Flames to a rebuilding year. He has not lived up to his $5.8MM salary but has been a consistent secondary scoring option for Calgary over the last three years. Mangiapane struck as a player the Flames may look to keep through the long haul of the rebuild but the team is opting to give his minutes in the top six to one of their younger options.

Salary Cap Outlook

Now that Calgary has moved out a decent chunk of their salaries over the last two years, the team has the second-most cap space in the NHL with $19.2MM. That leaves the Flames nearly $4MM above the salary cap floor and this is something they should weaponize throughout the 2024-25 NHL season.

For teams like the Vegas Golden Knights, New York Islanders, Vancouver Canucks, New York Rangers, Tampa Bay Lightning, Minnesota Wild, and Florida Panthers, the Flames could serve as a dumping ground for some of their bloated contracts so Calgary can effectively purchase draft and prospect capital. The team shouldn’t be near contention next season in an always difficult Pacific Division so the Flames would do well to utilize their cap space.

Key Questions

Is There More Selling Coming?

Circling back to their salary cap space for the 2024-25 season, the Flames will be limited in their ability to sell again. Depending on the team’s organizational window for getting back to contention, Calgary would do well at looking at the markets for Nazem Kadri, Blake Coleman, Jonathan Huberdeau, and MacKenzie Weegar. The Huberdeau contract in particular has already become one of the worst in the league so the Flames would have to add some sort of kicker going back the other way.

Because the team has such a narrow window of being above the salary cap floor, they will need to take on a bad contract in return if they want to stay cap-compliant. Since the team projects to be one of the worst in the NHL this season, the Flames should do everything they can to build up their prospect and draft capital while transitioning more veteran players out of the organization.

When Will The Prospects Come Up? 

Calgary has opened up several opportunities on the roster with the amount of trades they’ve made over the last calendar year. However, although training camp has yet to take place, Wolf and Connor Zary project as the only two top-level prospects on the roster heading into next year.

Because of the trades, the Flames have built up a notable farm system and they should see what they have sooner rather than later. Calgary would be doing a disservice to their prospects if they didn’t open up a full-time opportunity for Matthew Coronato at some point during next season and should create the flexibility to get notable 2024 draft picks Parekh and Basha into the lineup once their junior seasons end next year.

Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Morning Notes: Kadri, Grebyonkin, Pickering

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The Jets’ wish list at last season’s trade deadline had second-line center written atop it, likely in all caps. Looking at the state of their roster now, a 2C will likely be a deadline priority again after they failed to keep 2024’s stopgap solution, Sean Monahan, from reaching unrestricted free agency. In an early look at potential mid-season trade candidates to fill the void, Ken Wiebe of the Winnipeg Free Press profiles Flames pivot Nazem Kadri as a longer-term solution to provide stability down the middle behind Mark Scheifele.

Kadri, who turns 34 in October, is on the block to some degree. A report from David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period in June indicated Calgary general manager Craig Conroy was at least exploring the market for the center, who still has five years left on his contract at a $7MM cap hit.

It’s a hefty price tag, but it’s one Kadri lived up to last season after a mediocre first campaign in Alberta the year before. He took over as the Flames’ top center and arguably their top forward overall, leading them in assists (46), points (75) and shots on goal (277). It was one of the best seasons of his career, save for the 87-point season with the Avalanche in 2021-22 that landed him his payday from the Flames on the free agent market the following summer.

That price tag, even with some degree of salary retention by the Flames, likely limits the Jets from pouncing this offseason. They do have $5.78MM in projected cap space, per PuckPedia, but a chunk of that is set aside for a new deal for RFA forward Cole Perfetti, who will be one of a few internal options at second-line center to start this season. A move would be easier to execute after they’ve had a few months during the season to accumulate cap space.

Wiebe writes that Winnipeg has had interest in Kadri before, dating back to when he was traded from the Maple Leafs to Colorado in 2019. Any move hinges on the interest being mutual, given he’s got a no-movement clause through 2025-26.

Other tidbits from around the league to close out the week:

  • Maple Leafs prospect Nikita Grebyonkin is still recovering from a lower-body injury as he prepares for his first training camp with the club, he tells Daria Tuboltseva of Responsible Gambling. Grebyonkin, 21, spent last season with Metallurg Magnitogorsk of the Kontinental Hockey League and played through the injury during their playoff run, which took them to the summit of Russian hockey with the franchise’s third Gagarin Cup win. The 2022 fifth-round pick signed his entry-level contract following the conclusion of the KHL final and has been in the Toronto area since. The 6’2″, 192-lb winger will be a dark horse to crack the Maple Leafs’ opening night roster after finishing second on Magnitogorsk in scoring last year with 41 points in 67 games.
  • Penguins 2022 first-rounder Owen Pickering is hoping to get a shot with the team out of camp ahead of his first full professional season, relays Wes Crosby of NHL.com. The towering 6’5″ 20-year-old, who says he’s put on weight this summer and is up to 200 lbs, faces an uphill battle to compete with depth players like Sebastian Aho, Ryan Shea, and Jack St. Ivany for roster spots. Pickering, a promising two-way threat, captained the Western Hockey League’s Swift Current Broncos last season and led their blue line with seven goals, 39 assists and 46 points in 59 games. He’s been named to the league’s Central Division First All-Star Team in back-to-back years.

Martin Pospisil Will Play For Team Slovakia In Olympic Qualifier

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  • Calgary Flames forward Martin Pospisil is looking to continue his impressive run with Team Slovakia — this time in the 2026 Winter Olympics (Article Link). Later this month, Slovakia will host a three-game round-robin tournament against Austria, Hungary, and Kazakhstan with the winner receiving an automatic bid for the Olympic Games in Milan. The Slovakian Olympic team will likely rely heavily on Pospisil as he is coming off an impressive international tournament earlier this summer. In the 2024 World Championships, Pospisil scored three goals and seven points in seven games and helped Slovakia reach the playoff round for the first time since 2022.

    [SOURCE LINK]

Evening Notes: Flames, Getzlaf, Glass

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Calgary Flames players have reportedly been told that the team is unlikely to add any other pieces between now and the beginning of the regular season (as per Elliotte Friedman of the 32 Thoughts podcast). Friedman added that the Flames’ management wants to get a look at their group and see how they start the season, which makes sense given the turnover that has occurred in Calgary.

The Flames barely resemble the team that started the 2023-24 season, as most of the veteran players have been dealt to other teams in the past 12 months, including Jacob Markstrom and Andrew Mangiapane, who were both traded to Eastern Conference teams this summer. Calgary has largely tried to avoid calling their roster construction a rebuild, and in their defense, they did add a few veterans this summer on short-term deals. However, the team is certainly in sell mode, and they will likely look to move out more names during the regular season as they get closer to the NHL trade deadline.

In other evening notes:

  • Former Anaheim Ducks star Ryan Getzlaf has left the organization to join the NHL’s Department of Player Safety (as per NHL announcement). The two-time Olympic gold medalist will be reunited with his former Ducks teammate George Parros and will work in some capacity for the NHL. It is unclear what exactly Getzlaf will do, but as Parros noted today in a press release, Getzlaf’s experience on the ice should have a lot of value for the department. The former Stanley Cup champion retired after the 2021-22 season and re-joined Anaheim just over a year later in June 2023, serving as the player development coordinator for the team.
  • Newly acquired Pittsburgh Penguins forward Cody Glass entered this summer to work on his speed during his offseason training (as per Nick Kieser of the Nashville Predators radio network).  Glass knew that he wasn’t good enough last season for Nashville and was feeling the pressure heading into the summer as he will be a restricted free agent on July 1st, 2025. If Glass can improve his speed next season, it could be a good fit with the Penguins, as Pittsburgh hasn’t had much speed in their bottom six since they won back-to-back Stanley Cups in 2016 and 2017. Penguins head coach Mike Sullivan loves to use speed and deploy an aggressive forecheck, and if Glass can work on that part of his game, he could find himself in the top nine next year.

Snapshots: Kuznetsov, Oilers, Rosen, Aman

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Calgary Flames defenseman Yan Kuznetsov believes that he will take a big step in his development this upcoming season and is hoping a change to his training will allow him to do so (as per Flames writer Chris Wahl). The 22-year-old was re-signed to a one-year, two-way deal by the Flames yesterday after making his NHL debut last season, dressing in one game for Calgary. The former second-round pick believes that he is entering next season in the best shape of his career and is hoping that by being in tune with his body it will better allow him to use his size to his advantage as he pushes for an NHL roster spot with the Flames.

In other news from around the NHL:

  • Edmonton Oilers announcer Bob Stauffer tweeted about the Oilers’ current offer sheet conundrum with defenseman Philip Broberg and forward Dylan Holloway. The Oilers are currently on the clock after the St. Louis Blues issued a pair of offer sheets and have one week to match the offers or lose the players for draft pick compensation. Stauffer outlines in his tweet that if the Oilers elect to match the lucrative offer sheets, they will have to keep Broberg and Holloway for at least a year, which could be challenging given that they will need to issue lucrative extensions to Leon Draisaitl and Evan Bouchard next summer.
  • The MSG Network has announced that New York Rangers television play-by-play broadcaster Sam Rosen will retire after the upcoming NHL season. The 77-year-old is entering his 40th year calling Rangers games full-time after he began calling New York games on the radio for MSG, filling in for Marv Albert. He then pivoted to becoming MSG’s studio host before moving into his current role as the Rangers’ primary television broadcaster in 1984.
  • Vancouver Canucks general manager Patrick Allvin spoke with Swedish network hockeysverige.se about Nils Åman and the contract extension he gave the center this past season. The 24-year-old signed a two-year deal worth $825K per season and proceeded to post three goals and four assists in 43 NHL games this past year. Allvin mentioned that he was impressed by Åman’s finish to the season and felt that he had become more assertive on the ice and played with more of an edge. Allvin added that he was hopeful that Åman would continue to develop this summer and build off the success he had in the second half.

Flames Sign Adam Klapka, Yan Kuznetsov To Two-Way Contracts

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2:56 p.m.: Kuznetsov’s deal will pay him a $100K salary in the minors, Ryan Pike of Flames Nation reports.

2:08 p.m.: The Flames have signed RFA forward Adam Klapka and RFA defenseman Yan Kuznetsov to two-way deals for 2024-25, the team said in separate announcements Monday.

As the releases note, both deals will carry $775K cap hits if the players are on the NHL roster. Their minor league salaries weren’t disclosed.

Klapka, 23, was an undrafted free agent signing by the Flames out of Czechia’s Bili Tygri Liberec in 2022. He spent most of the last two seasons with the AHL’s Calgary Wranglers.

The massive 6’7″, 238-lb winger made his NHL debut last season, recording his first NHL goal as part of a six-game call-up. He also posted a -1 rating, 19 PIMs, and 21 hits while averaging just 6:46 per game.

Across 125 games in two AHL seasons, Klapka has accumulated 34 goals, 37 assists, 71 points, 170 PIMs, and a +9 rating. His 46 points last season led the team in scoring, as did his seven points in six playoff games.

With the Flames’ forward depth thinner than in years past, there’s a decent chance Klapka lands on the NHL roster come opening night. He’ll be one of many players battling it out for three or four forward spots up for grabs alongside Walker Duehr, Dryden Hunt, and Jakob Pelletier, the latter of whom remains an RFA.

The 22-year-old Kuznetsov faces longer but not impossible odds of making the team out of camp. Selected with the No. 50 pick of the 2020 draft out of UConn, he stuck in school for his sophomore season before opting to spend 2021-22 in juniors with the QMJHL’s Saint John Sea Dogs.

Kuznetsov turned pro in earnest the following campaign, although he did see spot duty with the Flames’ former AHL affiliate, the Stockton Heat, in the 2020-21 and 2021-22 seasons. Like Klapka, he made his NHL debut in 2023-24, posting a -1 rating and skating 11:58 in an appearance against the Senators on Jan. 9.

On the farm with the Wranglers/Heat, the Russian has 10 goals, 22 assists, 32 points, 74 PIMs, and a -5 rating in 144 games over the past four years. Those offensive numbers aren’t too concerning for a player who projects as a stay-at-home defender, and he has been able to use his 6’4″, 216-lb frame effectively since turning pro.

If the Flames opt to carry seven defenders and 14 forwards, their roster on the back end is likely set. But if they opt to drop a forward for an eighth defender, look for the extra spot to be a two-man battle in camp between Kuznetsov and Ilya Solovyov, who’s still an RFA in need of a deal.

Carl-Johan Lerby Signs With Kalmar In Sweden's Allsvenskan

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  • Flames RFA defenseman Carl-Johan Lerby is on the move in Sweden as Kalmar of the second-tier Allsvenskan announced that they’ve signed him to a one-year contract. The 27-year-old signed with Calgary as an undrafted free agent in 2019 but he spent limited time in North America, suiting up just 22 times with AHL Stockton before heading back overseas in 2021.  The Flames retained his rights by tendering a qualifying offer at that time.  Lerby split last season between the Finnish Liiga and the Allsvenskan, compiling 15 points in 45 regular season games between the two levels.

CSKA Moscow Signs Nikita Okhotyuk, Ivan Prosvetov, Dmitri Samorukov

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Kontinental Hockey League club CSKA Moscow is hard at work today getting their 2024-25 roster set in stone. After making a trio of rumored signings official earlier in the day, they’ve made three more. Flames RFA defenseman Nikita Okhotyuk, as well as free-agent netminder Ivan Prosvetov and defender Dmitri Samorukov, are headed to the Russian capital per separate team announcements on Telegram. It’s a two-year deal for Okhotyuk and three-year deals for Prosvetov and Samorukov.

Okhotyuk’s signing was initially reported by TSN’s Darren Dreger all the way back in May. It’s part of a rush of deals that CSKA is trying to get under the wire before a 24-month international transfer ban, imposed by the IIHF as part of the sanctions levied toward them for violating the Flyers’ valid contract with netminder Ivan Fedotov last summer, goes into effect on Aug. 11. But whether that transfer ban will be enforceable remains to be seen after the KHL voted last month to make themselves independent from both the IIHF and the Russian Hockey Federation.

A second-round pick of the Devils in 2019, Okhotyuk played only 15 games for New Jersey before he was dealt to the Sharks in last year’s Timo Meier trade. The 6’1″ defender spent most of last season in the NHL, posting a goal and seven assists for eight points in 43 games for San Jose with a -22 rating, averaging 16:27 per contest. His brief tenure in California came to an end on deadline day, when he was traded to the Flames for a 2024 fifth-round pick. He played sparingly for Calgary down the stretch, posting an assist and a -2 rating in nine games.

Since Calgary issued him a qualifying offer, they’ll still hold Okhotyuk’s NHL signing rights when his deal with CSKA expires in 2026. If he opts to return to the NHL at that time, it’ll need to be with the Flames unless they trade his rights. Calgary will hold his rights until his 27th birthday, meaning Okhotyuk could become an unrestricted free agent on Dec. 4, 2027, if he waits to make an NHL comeback until after that date.

Prosvetov, 25, became a Group VI UFA this summer after spending last season with the Avalanche. A report out of Russia back in April indicated he’d be heading to CSKA. The former fourth-round pick of the Coyotes played a career-high 11 games last season, spending significant time as the No. 2 option in Colorado behind Alexandar Georgiev before Justus Annunen passed him on the depth chart. He was passable but still below-average with a 4-3-1 record, .895 SV% and 3.16 GAA.

The Moscow native hasn’t played in his home country since the 2015-16 campaign, when he suited up for a local U-17 club. He was excellent in AHL action with the Avs’ affiliate, posting a .921 SV% in 21 games, and likely would have had NHL offers if he decided to stay in North America. But it’s clear his mind has been set on returning home for the entirety of the offseason.

Samorukov, meanwhile, is the only member of the trio not to see NHL ice last season. The 2017 third-round pick of the Oilers began the season on an AHL contract with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins. The 25-year-old eventually landed a two-way deal with Pittsburgh in November, but he never received a call-up and wasn’t tendered a qualifying offer at the end of the season. He last suited up for CSKA while on loan to them for the 2020-21 season, when he posted eight points and a +24 rating in 48 games. He had 15 points and a +7 rating in 64 games for the Baby Pens last year.

Calgary Wranglers Sign Two To AHL Contracts

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The AHL affiliate of the Calgary Flames, the Calgary Wranglers, made a pair of signings today as Tony Androckitis of Inside AHL Hockey reports the organization has signed forward Connor Mylymok to an AHL contract and has also signed forward Deni Goure to an AHL contract. Both players will be making their AHL debuts next season.

Flames Re-Sign Dustin Wolf To Two-Year Deal

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The parade of unsigned RFAs inking deals today continues. Joining the list is Flames top goaltending prospect Dustin Wolf, who PuckPedia reports has signed a two-year, $1.7MM deal. It’s a two-way pact in 2024-25 ($850K NHL/$275K AHL) before transitioning to a one-way structure in 2025-26 ($850K). He has a $375K salary guarantee this season. The team made Wolf’s deal official shortly after the initial report.

It looks to be a short-term bargain pact for one of the best young goalies in the world. Wolf, 23, was a seventh-round pick back in 2019 but has been dominant in the juniors and minors since. The California native won the Western Hockey League’s top goaltender award in his final two seasons with the Everett Silvertips and followed that up by winning the AHL’s top goalie award in each of his first two professional seasons. Over the last four seasons, Wolf has a 2.29 GAA, .926 SV%, 11 shutouts and a 97-32-10 record in 141 games with the Calgary Wranglers and Stockton Heat.

Things haven’t been quite as smooth at the NHL level for Wolf, though. The 6’0″ netminder has gotten spotty action the past two years but was relied upon more heavily as a third-string option last season, starting 15 games and making two relief appearances. He was below average in that run, posting a .893 SV% with a 3.16 GAA and a 7-7-1 record. Putting such a young goalie behind a non-playoff team is always a tough ask, though.

But with Jacob Markstrom traded to the Devils and no other notable moves in the Calgary crease, Wolf projects to start next season on the NHL roster, working in tandem with Daniel Vladar. It would be surprising to see the Flames take advantage of the two-way structure of his deal this fall, although it is worth noting he’s still waiver-exempt. That changes in 2025-26. Behind Wolf and Vladar, the Flames’ third-string option is 27-year-old Devin Cooley, who had a .870 SV% in six games for the Sharks to end last season. It was his first time seeing NHL action.

Wolf will be 25 years old upon expiry in 2026 and will still be an RFA. He’ll be eligible for salary arbitration at that time.

Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.

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