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Dustin Wolf

Flames Notes: Wolf, Andersson, Parekh

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The Flames announced a seven-year, $52.5MM extension for premier young netminder Dustin Wolf this morning ahead of the final season of his entry-level contract. The deal, which carries a cap hit of $7.5MM, will make him among the league’s 10 highest-paid goalies when it takes effect in 2026-27.

Now, PuckPedia has the full breakdown of the contract. The deal will be paid out almost entirely in base salary, with only one up-front $2MM signing bonus in the first year. That will be paired with a $6MM base salary to give him $8MM in total compensation out of the gate. From 2027-28 through 2031-32, he’ll earn an even $7.5MM per year. The difference between his first-year compensation and the $7.5MM average annual value will be made up in the contract’s final year in 2032-33, when he’ll take a small pay cut to $7MM.

Wolf’s deal also includes relatively limited trade protection. He’s not eligible for it until 2028-29, when he’d otherwise be eligible for unrestricted free agency. From that point forward, he’ll have a 10-team no-trade list, but no full movement protection is included in the deal.

There’s more out of Calgary today:

  • While all parties have acknowledged pending UFA Rasmus Andersson will be traded at some point this season, the defender rebuked claims over the offseason that he was only willing to extend with one team – believed to be the Golden Knights. That would obviously have handcuffed Calgary from moving him elsewhere or even landing market value from Vegas, something Andersson said he’d never do, according to Pat Steinberg of Sportsnet 960.
  • Top defense prospect Zayne Parekh isn’t fully recovered from the lower-body injury he sustained earlier this summer, general manager Craig Conroy told Steinberg. “The hope is that he’ll be ready for training camp,” Conroy said, indicating he likely won’t participate in any rookie camp activities in the days leading up to full camp beginning at the end of next week. He did skate today, Conroy confirmed, a welcome sign ahead of a pivotal camp that could lead to him carving out a roster spot. The 2024 No. 9 overall pick scored in his NHL debut last year and has led the OHL in scoring among defensemen in back-to-back years, although he’s still ineligible for a full-time assignment to AHL Calgary.

Flames Sign Dustin Wolf To Seven-Year Extension

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The Calgary Flames have signed reigning Calder Trophy finalist Dustin Wolf to a seven-year, $52.5MM extension, per a team release. The deal will carry a yearly cap hit of $7.5MM. That price tag will pull Wolf into the upper echelon of goalie contracts, making him the eighth-highest-paid goalie in the NHL.

Calgary is clearly confident after Wolf’s unprecedented play on his entry-level contract. He was once an overlooked goaltender, falling to the seventh round of the 2019 NHL Draft largely thanks to his slight 6-foot, 160-pound frame. Wolf was playing with the WHL’s Everett Silvertips at the time of his draft. He returned for a fourth season in Everett in the following year, and wrapped up his  WHL career with a staggering .935 save percentage in 149 games – the highest save percentage ever recorded across multiple WHL seasons.

Wolf moved to the AHL’s Stockton Heat in 2021-22 and earned the starter’s crease within just a few months. He was flashy and energetic, even as a first-year pro, and worked his way to a phenomenal 33-9-4 record and .924 Sv% in 47 games. That mark was enough to earn Wolf the AHL’s Baz Bastien award, handed out annually to the league’s top goalie. Not to be outdone, Wolf managed an even better record (42-10-2) and better save percentage (.932) in more games (55) in his second pro year, again taking home the Baz Bastien Award. With that, he became just the third goalie to ever win the award twice, and just the second to win it in back-to-back years.

That gave Wolf an incredible amount of momentum headed into last season. He played 18 games in the NHL between 2022 and 2024 – and managed a stout 8-7-1 record and .923 save percentage. But fans knew more was to come when Wolf finally broke into the Flames’ roster full-time. New Flames general manager Craig Conroy cleared the path for that to happen when he traded Jacob Markstrom to the New Jersey Devils in 2024. The lights were shining bright and trained solely on Wolf, headed into last season.

Wolf wasted no time proving he belonged in an NHL role. He won his first three games of the season with a .936 save percentage and managed his first shutout in his ninth game of the year. By the end of December, Wolf was touting an impressive 12-5-2 record and a .914 save percentage. Those numbers slipped slightly as Wolf worked his way up to 53 starts on the season – the 17th-most in the league. He finished his rookie season with a 29-16-8 record and .910 Sv% – tying Stuart Skinner, Pekka Rinne, and Andrew Raycroft for the eighth-most wins by a first-year starter.

It was a truly electric performance. Calgary’s chances to win rose significantly when Wolf took the net, and his athleticism and confidence were both unwavering. Advanced stat site Evolving Hockey estimates that Calgary received five wins-above-replacement (WAR) from Wolf – the fifth-most in the NHL, just narrowly behind Vezina Trophy finalist Darcy Kuemper and above Ilya Sorokin. That’s an incredible mark, and one that Calgary will quickly reward with a long-term extension. Teams have been duped in the past by strong rookie seasons. Hockey fans will surely remember the short-lived peak of Steve Mason. But Wolf seems well set to earn the starting role in every season of his new deal. He boasts all of the skill, speed, and sharp thinking to play at the top level, and will look to vindicate a great rookie year and hefty extension with a growing performance this season.

Photo courtesy of Brett Holmes-Imagn Images.

Pacific Notes: Wolf, Zary, Kraken

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While last season was a successful one for Calgary Flames goaltender Dustin Wolf, he is setting a high bar for his encore season and has playoff aspirations heading into the new campaign, per NHL.com’s Derek Van Diest.

The 24-year-old netminder, who is currently holding extension discussions with the team, posted a 29-16-8 record to go along with a .910 save percentage last season. Those numbers earned him a second-place finish in Rookie of the Year voting, as well as a respectable seventh place in Veniza voting. Interestingly, he also finished second among all NHL goaltenders in Hart Memorial votes, behind only winner Connor Hellebuyck.

Despite being undersized, Wolf flashed the potential that the Flames were hoping for. However, he isn’t satisfied with simply repeating last year’s performance — either individually or as a team.

“Your objective is to come to the next season, have a good summer and be better. I think the term I like to use right now is, ‘not to be complacent.’ I’m still super young, trying to learn my way around the League,” he said. “I have one full year under my belt, but that means absolutely nothing. I want to come in here with a chip on my shoulder. We have a lot to prove as a team.”

Elsewhere around the Pacific Division:

  • Sticking with the Flames, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman is hearing the team and restricted free agent Connor Zary continue to remain apart on an extension. Speaking on his 32 Thoughts podcast, Friedman said that while he believes the two sides will eventually reach a deal, both term and annual salary remain sticking points. “I don’t think this is a situation where the Flames don’t like the player, or the player doesn’t like the Flames,” Friedman said. “And the good news is the market is picking up.” In 54 games last season, Zary posted 13 goals and 27 points.
  • The Seattle Kraken are coming off a down season where many things didn’t go according to plan, including special teams play. The Kraken finished 23rd in the league on the power play with an 18.9 percent success rate and 21st on the penalty kill at 77.2 percent. It’s an issue general manager Jason Botterill is looking to shore up this season, per NHL.com’s Kevin Woodley. “We certainly have opportunity for growth in both those categories, and we have to show improvement to have success,” said Botterill. To that end, forward Mason Marchment was acquired via trade in June, partly to support Seattle’s power play. On the PK, Botterill noted that younger players will be expected to step up, specifically mentioning Matty Beniers and Ryker Evans as key contributors.

Flames Have Started Extension Talks With Dustin Wolf

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Dustin Wolf’s first full NHL season was quite an impactful one.  He became the full-fledged starter in the second half of the year and played an instrumental role in Calgary’s last-season playoff push, one that ultimately came up just short.  He’s entering the final season of his bridge contract but the Flames have clearly seen enough to want to lock him up long term.  Wolf told Postmedia’s Wes Gilbertson that talks on that front are underway:

They’re working, that’s about all I can really tell you. There’s talks, but nothing really confirmed yet. I’d love to stay here and I think they want me to stay here, as well. So as soon as something comes to fruition where both of us like where we’re at, I’m sure it won’t be long after that point where pen will be to paper.

Wolf played in 53 games for Calgary last season, posting a 2.64 GAA and a .910 SV%.  His performance was strong enough to earn him the runner-up position in Calder Trophy voting for Rookie of the Year while he also received a third-place vote in Vezina Trophy voting for the league’s top netminder.  That’s quite the solid performance for a player making $850K, making him one of the top bargains in the league.

While undersized for the modern-day goaltender, Wolf has been a top performer coming up.  In the WHL, he put up a .935 SV% over four seasons, winning Goalie of the Year twice and taking home the CHL Goalie of the Year title once.  Then, with AHL Calgary, he had a .926 SV% in parts of four seasons with them, again twice winning the award for being the top goaltender along with being league MVP in 2022-23.  Accordingly, while there’s not an overly long NHL track record to work with, Wolf’s overall track record shows that he’s someone who can be relied on to be a key goalie for the long run.

Finding the right price point on a new deal could be tricky, however, given that he has fewer than 100 career NHL appearances.  Wolf still has two RFA-eligible years left after this one so a second bridge agreement probably isn’t on the table unless it was a one-year pact in the arbitration window which is a long way away.  Assuming their mutual preference is a long-term contract, AFP Analytics suggests that a six-year deal worth a little over $8MM per season could make sense.  While several starting netminders have landed in that range in recent years, most have had much longer track records of NHL success than Wolf currently has.

On the other hand, with at least two more big jumps in the salary cap coming over the next two years, the potential price tag could go even higher if Wolf builds on his performance in 2025-26.  On the other hand, if he struggles a bit, the asking price would probably come in below that projected number.  With negotiations like this with relatively untested players, it’s about finding a spot where both sides are comfortable with the risk of a possible overpayment or underpayment.  We’ll see if they can find that point over the coming weeks.

NHL Announces 2024-25 All-Rookie Team

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Considering the votes for the 2024-25 Calder Memorial Trophy, there weren’t many surprises on this year’s All-Rookie Team, which the NHL announced this morning. There were three unanimous selections, while the other three winners had a closer vote margin. The team is as follows:

G Dustin Wolf  (Flames) – Wolf finished second in Calder Trophy voting after a superb rookie campaign. The 24-year-old netminder finished the year with a 29-16-8 record in 53 starts with a .910 SV% and 2.64 GAA. Furthermore, Wolf finished with 15.1 Goals Saved Above Average according to Hockey Reference, and nearly backstopped the Calgary Flames to the postseason despite expectations of a rebuilding year.

D Lane Hutson (Canadiens) – Joining Wolf as another unanimous selection to the 2024-25 All-Rookie Team, Hutson was this year’s Calder Trophy winner. Scoring six goals and 66 points in 82 games while averaging 22:44 of ice time per game, Hutson joined Bobby Orr, Brian Leetch, and Quinn Hughes as the only defensemen to lead rookies in scoring during their respective inaugural campaigns.

D Denton Mateychuk (Blue Jackets) – Although he didn’t share similar point production to Hutson, Mateychuk had a quietly productive campaign for the Columbus Blue Jackets, scoring four goals and 13 points in 45 games, averaging 18:02 of ice time a night. Much of Mateychuk’s value came on the defensive side of the puck, securing a 91.4% on-ice save percentage at even strength despite starting 57.4% of his shifts in the defensive zone.

F Macklin Celebrini (Sharks) – As last summer’s first overall selection, expectations were high for Celebrini this season. He largely lived up to them, scoring 25 goals and 63 points in 70 games, finishing third in Calder Trophy voting. There were some significant defensive shortcomings in Celebrini’s game, but that should improve as he matures and has better teammates around him. He outscored last year’s Calder Trophy winner, Connor Bedard, by two points in two more games played.

F Cutter Gauthier (Ducks) – Gauthier finished with the fewest vote totals for an All-Rookie nod with 79 out of a potential 187. Still, it was enough to earn third place among forwards. Despite being streaky, Gauthier finished fifth in scoring on the Ducks with 20 goals and 44 points in 82 games. Gauthier’s offensive output should improve with increased ice time during the 2025-26 season, as he finished his rookie campaign averaging slightly above 14 minutes a night.

F Matvei Michkov (Flyers) – Although he wasn’t a unanimous selection like Wolf, Hutson, or Celebrini, Michkov finished one vote shy of those honors. He came exactly as advertised for the Philadelphia Flyers, scoring 26 goals and 63 points in 80 games, leading the team in goal-scoring and finishing second in total output. Like Celebrini, there were significant defensive shortcomings in Michkov’s game throughout the regular season, but those won’t be as important an issue for a winger.

Poll: Who Will Win The 2025 Calder Memorial Trophy?

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Unlike many years where there is a clear-cut favorite for the Calder Memorial Trophy, the 2024-25 season had different ideas. A reasonable case could be made for any of this year’s finalists: Lane Hutson of the Montreal Canadiens, Dustin Wolf of the Calgary Flames, and Macklin Celebrini of the San Jose Sharks.

Hutson likely has the strongest case of the trio. The former 62nd overall selection scored six goals and 60 assists in 82 games for the Canadiens this season, tying Hall-of-Famer Larry Murphy for the most assists recorded by a rookie defenseman. The 20-year-old blue liner ranked second on Montreal in ATOI (22:44) and was a large part of their run to the postseason for the first time since the 2021 Stanley Cup playoffs. Additionally, Hutson led the Canadiens in postseason scoring with five assists in five games.

Meanwhile, Wolf looks to become the first netminder to win the award since Steve Mason of the Columbus Blue Jackets in 2008-09. He finished with a slightly worse year than Mason, comparatively, managing a 29-16-8 record in 53 games with a .910 SV% and 2.64 GAA. Still, although Mason backstopped the Blue Jackets to their first postseason appearance in 2009, Wolf was a major reason the Flames remained competitive until the last week of the regular season.

Lastly, last summer’s first overall pick will also be up for the award. Celebrini was one of the few bright spots on a rebuilding Sharks team, leading the team in scoring with 25 goals and 63 points in 70 games. His offensive output tied with fellow-rookie Matvei Michkov of the Philadelphia Flyers (in 10 fewer games), and bested last year’s Calder recipient, the Chicago Blackhawks’ Connor Bedard, by two points in two additional contests. Celebrini’s 25 goals accounted for 12% of all San Jose goals this season.

Although the members of the Professional Hockey Writers Association (PHWA) will have the final say in who ultimately wins the award, it’s time to cast your vote. Who do you think will win this year’s Calder Memorial Trophy? Vote below!

If the poll doesn’t show up for you, click here to vote.

Lane Hutson, Macklin Celebrini, Dustin Wolf Named Calder Trophy Finalists

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The NHL announced the finalists for the Calder Memorial Trophy ahead of the 2025 Draft Lottery. The award is handed out annually to the NHL’s Rookie of the Year. This year’s finalists will be Montreal Canadiens defenseman Lane Hutson, San Jose Sharks centerman Macklin Celebrini, and Calgary Flames goaltender Dustin Wolf.

The 2025 Calder Trophy race has been anticipated for years. Celebrini headlined a class full of rookie talent, and seemed deadset on a bid for the award after going first-overall in the 2024 NHL Draft. But his rookie year exceeded even optimistic expectations, as Celebrini managed to lead the Sharks in scoring with 63 points in 70 games – an 82-game pace of 74 points. He also recorded 25 goals on the year, making him the second rookie to reach that mark since Kirill Kaprizov in the 2020-21 season alongside Philadelphia Flyers rookie Matvei Michkov, who recorded 26 goals.

Celebrini managed that scoring despite playing for a dismally low-scoring Sharks roster. San Jose ranked dead-last in scoring this season, with just 208 total goals – four fewer than the dismal Nashville Predators. It was the seventh-fewest total goals scored by a team since 2021, though a slight bump over the 180 goals San Jose totaled last year. That difference – 28 goals – can largely be chalked up to the impacts Celebrini made by seamlessly entering San Jose’s top center role. The Vancouver native won the Hobey Baker Award as college hockey’s MVP last season, and both the MVP and ’Rookie of the Year’ awards in the USHL the year before. A title win here would continue his streak of lifting hardware at every single stop.

But a smooth and successful rookie flight won’t win Celebrini the award outright. Hutson offers formidable competition after scoring the fifth-most points from a rookie defenseman in NHL history. More impressive than that, Hutson’s 60 assists tie with Larry Murphy for the most ever recorded by a rookie defender. That is Hall of Fame company for the young Canadiens defenseman – an incredible mark given the fact that he wasn’t a first-round draft pick just three years ago. Hutson instead went 62nd overall in the 2022 NHL Draft, nearly out of the second round as well. He followed his draft selection with two standout seasons in college hockey, where he was named a Hobey Baker finalists in both seasons.

Through dazzling paths to the show, neither Hutson nor Celebrini had a tougher path to a starring role than Dustin Wolf did. Wolf was a seventh-round pick in the 2019 NHL Draft, selected just four picks before the end of the draft. Like Hutson, many docked his size and ability to play the position at a top role. But Wolf quickly began to silence critics when he turned pro in the 2021-22 season. He set a fantastic 33-9-4 record and .924 save percentage in the AHL that season, good enough to land the ’Baz Bastien’ Award as ’AHL Goalie of the Year’ in his rookie season. Even more impressive than that, Wolf improved on the feat in his sophomore season – recording a 42-10-2 record and .932 and again winning ’Goalie of the Year’. He became just the third goaltender to ever win the award twice, and the first to do it in back-to-back seasons.

Wolf split time between the NHL and AHL lineups last season, hampering his chances for a three-peat of the AHL title. But he could make up for that by winning NHL ’Rookie of the Year’ this summer. Calgary’s success this season seemed to hinge on Wolf’s ability to perform on a nightly basis – and their finish as the highest-scoring team to ever miss the postseason is a testament to his prowess. He finished the year with 0.224 goals-saved above-expected per-60. That’s to say, on a nightly basis, Wolf’s appearance in net afforded Calgary a 0.224 goal advantage – 21st highest in the league between Mackenzie Blackwood (0.248) and Jake Oettinger (0.188). While Celebrini’s impact on a desolate Sharks lineup, or Hutson’s rival of the record books, may warrant more acclaim – Wolf’s rookie year will cement his spot in the Flames lineup all the same.

Flames’ Dustin Wolf Should Be Separating From Calder Trophy Pack

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The 2025 Calder Trophy race is living up to every bit of the excitement it’s built up over the last few years. There are star options at every single position, with San Jose Sharks center Macklin Celebrini, Philadelphia Flyers winger Matvei Michkov, and Montreal Canadiens defender Lane Hutson receiving the most acclaim. But the focus on high-scoring skaters has left behind the focus that should be going to star Calgary Flames goaltender Dustin Wolf, as he nearly single-handedly blazes a rebuilding Flames to the postseason.

Wolf has been dazzling since the start of the season. He opened the year with a three-game win streak and .936 save percentage. By the end of December, Wolf had full claim over Calgary’s starter’s crease, and a fantastic 12-5-2 record and .914 save percentage to show for it. Even better, he’s managed to find a second gear since the calendar turned over. Wolf ranks ninth in the NHL with 10 wins, and sixth in save percentage with a .916, since January 1st. His statline has placed him in the company of potential Vezina Trophy candidates like Connor Hellebuyck, Logan Thompson, and Darcy Kuemper.

The performance is almost hard to believe. Wolf’s season-long .915 save percentage ranks sixth in the NHL this season – and marks the highest from a U24 starting goaltender since Jeremy Swayman managed the same total in 2021-22. At an age where the top echelon of goaltender begin to separate from the pack, Wolf has shown his ability to perform on a nightly basis.

Even better, he’s managed it behind a Flames roster that entered the season seemingly in the midst of a rebuild. Calgary is on the tail end of one of the biggest fire-sales in recent memory, shipping off each of Chris Tanev, Noah Hanifin, Jacob Markstrom, Andrew Mangiapane, Elias Lindholm, and Nikita Zadorov in and around the the 2023-24 season. That’s massive turnover – and forced big roles onto veterans that stuck around, like Rasmus Andersson and Nazem Kadri, and top youngsters, like Matthew Coronato, Connor Zary, and Kevin Bahl. The ensuing instability has shown in Calgary’s on-ice results. They’ve allowed the eighth-most shots-against per-game this season (29.2), and the highest expected goals-against per-60 (xGA/60) of any Western Conference team in the race for the playoffs (2.43) per MoneyPuck.

Despite the bombardment they face, Calgary has also allowed the 12th-fewest goals of any team in the league (181). Wolf’s consistency has willed the Flames to the Western Conference’s second Wild Card slot, even as they sit with a -20 goal differential (161-to-181). They’ve allowed the 12th-fewest goals in the league, with Wolf on track to record 50 starts in his rookie season.

It’s far harder to measure a goaltender’s value at a glance than it is to measure a skater’s. Hutson, Celebrini, and Michkov leading NHL rookies in scoring with 49, 48, and 47 points respectively puts them into a clear top-notch group. Hutson leading the pack as a defenseman is an even deeper sentiment. But none of the trio have quite broken away from the rest of their position group. Celebrini and Michkov remain buried in forward scoring. Hutson ranks eighth in points from a defenseman, though he’s the only one in the top 10 with a negative plus-minus. Meanwhile, Wolf ranks sixth in save percentage (.915), 11th in total wins (22), and 13th in goals-against average (2.52). He’s quickly jumped into company with the NHL’s best netminders in his first real opportunity, all while operating with the precedent of a former seventh-round pick standing at just six-foot tall.

The Calder Trophy hasn’t gone to a netminder since Steve Mason won it with the 2008-09 Columbus Blue Jackets. Mason tied for the 11th-highest save percentage (.916) and 10th-most wins (33), and outright earned the second-highest goals-against average (2.29) that season. The Calder win was marked by Mason quickly earning Columbus’ starting role and near single-handedly willing the team to their first postseason berth in franchise history, after seven years without one. His performance may stand a slide head taller than Wolf’s, but the two seasons are eerily similar. Mason beat out (second in voting), Drew Doughty (fifth), and Steven Stamkos (ninth) – among others – for the 2009 Calder Trophy. Wolf’s competition may be a bit more direct this year – but past precedent could, and should, be enough to bestow the new face of Calgary’s crease with the Rookie of the Year title.

Flames’ Young Stars Fueling Unexpected Success

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The Calgary Flames held a fire sale between last season and the summer, moving out multiple top-of-the-lineup pieces – including top forward Elias Lindholm, top defenders Noah Hanifin and Chris Tanev, and starting goaltender Jacob Markstrom. Calgary moved out more than $24MM in cap space between all of their trades, and yet – as the 2024-25 season prepares to enter December – the Flames sit comfortably in a playoff spot. They’re 12-8-4 so far, ranked third in the Pacific Division and sixth in the Western Conference. Even better, Calgary boasts the third-most cap space in the league – with a projected $25.9MM in current available funds. The hot start and open budget put Calgary in the best spot they’ve been in years, and it’s a direct result of novice general manager Craig Conroy’s timely reliance on the prospect pool.

Conroy emphasized on Sportsnet’s Flames Talk podcast this summer that the goal of the Flames’ season would be to create opportunity for their in-house prospects. 24 games into the season and it seems every single prospect to receive a chance has seized it in full.

Dustin Wolf is quickly establishing himself as a franchise goaltender, posting eight wins and a .918 save percentage through 13 games in what is his formal rookie season. That kind of performance will command respect in the race for the Calder Trophy, even against Matvei Michkov and Logan Stankoven rivaling point-per-game scoring. Wolf is thriving in what is the first hardy starting experience of his career, continuing to dominate North American pros after taking home the AHL’s Les Cunningham ’MVP’ award in 2023, and the Aldege “Baz” Bastien Memorial Award for goalie-of-the-year in both 2022 and 2023. He spent just a bit too much time with the NHL roster last season to rival either award, but recorded a cumulative 97 wins and .926 save percentage through 141 games and four seasons in the AHL. That ability is now directly benefiting the Flames. Wolf has posted a save percentage above .900 in 61.5 percent of his starts this year, just 0.4 percent behind Markstrom’s tally in 2021-22 – when he finished the year second in Vezina Trophy voting.

Wolf’s dazzling defense of Calgary’s garrison has given youngsters Connor Zary and Matthew Coronato plenty of space to lead the offensive charge. Zary has become Calgary’s third-most utilized forward at even-strength, with 349 minutes of five-versus-five ice time in 24 games – 13 minutes fewer than Nazem Kadri, two fewer than Mikael Backlund, and 12 more than Jonathan Huberdeau. Zary’s had no trouble keeping up with the studded veterans he’s keeping company with, scoring six points at even strength and 12 points on the year as a whole – tying Huberdeau and one behind Kadri. He’s become a core piece of Calgary’s top-six – a role flirted with when he recorded 14 goals and 34 points in 63 games as a rookie last season. The bulk of his scoring, between this year and last, has come thanks to a nonstop motor and ability to play at top speeds. But while Zary’s outskates his opponents on the top-line, Coronato has taken to outworking them in the middle-six. He’s also jumped up the Flames’ scoring chart, with six goals and 10 points in 19 games this season. That’s one fewer goal than each of Kadri and Huberdeau, and puts Coronato on pace for 26 goals across 82 games – which would mark the highest scoring from a U22 Flame since Matthew Tkachuk and Sean Monahan each surpassed the 25-goal mark three separate times before their 22nd birthday.

The surge of production from Zary and Coronato in the top-nine has helped Calgary’s lineup truly settle into place. Utility winger Blake Coleman has been able to resign to a top-notch supporting role, rather than needing to drive play on his own; while Coronato’s role of gritty scorer opens more space for Martin Pospisil to embrace his bruiser tendencies. It’s created a lineup that’s cohesive, multifaceted, and capable of taking on the NHL’s best lineups – made evident by Calgary’s recent three-game stretch of wins over the New York Islanders, Rangers, and Minnesota Wild.

A year intended for retooling has instead become a year of success for the Flames. They’re on an upward trajectory, fueled almost entirely by the team’s timely leaning into their prospect pool. Wolf’s performance as a formal rookie will have Calgary as a top mention in the Calder Trophy race, while Zary and Coronato’s mix of scoring could push the team into the postseason for the first time since 2022. Even without either accolade, the performance of Calgary’s top youngsters this season sets up plenty of reasons to be excited about their long-term outlook.

Flames’ Starting Role Up For Grabs In Training Camp

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The Calgary Flames traded former Vezina Trophy runner-up Jacob Markstrom to the New Jersey Devils this summer, leaving a glaring hole in one of the most important positions in the lineup. General manager Craig Conroy expects that to elicit the biggest competition of training camp, telling Sportsnet’s Eric Francis that all of the team’s goaltenders will have a chance at the starting role. Conroy laid it out clearly, saying, “With Marky gone, the job is wide open, and these guys know this is as good an opportunity as they’re ever going to have to show what they can do and become an NHL starter.”

The competition will be fought between de facto NHL backup Daniel Vladar, top AHL goalie Dustin Wolf, and emerging prospect Devin Cooley. It’s hard to determine a favorite among the three. Vladar boasts significantly more NHL experience than the rest, recording 70 games over the last three seasons while backing up Markstrom. But his performances haven’t proven very convincing – with Vladar managing 35 wins and a .894 save percentage with the Flames. To make matters worse, Vladar is coming off a hip surgery in March, leaving him as a shaky bet to suddenly improve his performances, even in the face of opportunity.

Wolf has already bested Vladar’s stat line on a per-game basis, with eight wins and a .896 save percentage in 18 career games. Those numbers certainly aren’t convincing, but suggest some upside – especially against Devin Cooley’s meager .870 save percentage in six games with the San Jose Sharks last year.

Wolf has seemingly earned a true shot at the NHL starting role, having dominated the AHL for the last three seasons. His list of minor-league accomplishments runs on-and-on. He won the AHL’s Les Bastien ’Goaltender of the Year’ Award in both 2022 and 2023, becoming the first goalie to win in back-to-back years and just the third to win twice. He added even more hardware in the latter year, also winning the Les Cunningham ’MVP’ Award – becoming the youngest to win MVP since Jason Spezza in 2005. Those accolades have studded a career stat line of 97 wins and a .926 in 141 AHL games.

At his peak, Markstrom played a 63-game season with the Flames. That leaves a large chunk of games to be shelled out this season – and while Wolf’s precedent and Vladar’s injury seems to spell an easy decision. But with Conroy’s open-minded approach to the starting role, the duo could end up in a strict 50/50 time share, as Calgary attempts to develop a long-term starter out of one of the two.

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