On July 30, the Calgary Flames signed who figures to be their starting netminder for their 2024-25 campaign: Dustin Wolf. He received a two-year deal worth $850,000 per season—the 23-year-old will be a restricted free agent (RFA) once again in 2026.
Can Wolf Break Out in 2024-25?
With the subtraction of Jacob Markstrom in the offseason, Wolf is the only real competitor for the Flames’ starting job. Dan Vladar has been rather underwhelming as the backup since he got that job in 2021-22—it’s the youngster’s time to shine.
Wolf has been one of the best young netminders in the American Hockey League (AHL) for quite some time. In the history of the league, nobody has won the Baz Bastien Award for the AHL’s best goaltender more than he has—he did it in 2021-22 and 2022-23. He has the upside, but he’s not entering the best situation.
Since winning 50 games back in 2021-22, it has been a downward spiral for the Flames. Now that they’ve sold multiple roster players in the 2024 offseason, the front office is basically encouraging the team to lose. Wolf doesn’t have the best club in the world around him, although it’s not bad enough to where he can’t make a surprise run—he just has a tall hill to climb.
Fit with Calgary
Wolf gives the Flames some upside between the pipes, but he struggled in 2023-24. With a .893 save percentage (SV%), 3.16 goals-against average, and over 10 goals allowed above expected, it just wasn’t a great showing from him.
But Wolf is much better than what he showed last season. It takes time to learn the ropes in the NHL, especially with a team that had the ninth-worst record in the league. He can start to really impress by the time he’s due for another deal, but only time will tell.
