The Calgary Flames and their management team have had their plates full this season with decisions to make on the future of the team. From five separate trades that shipped out pending unrestricted free agents, naming Mikael Backlund the first captain of the team since the 2020–21 season, on top of a fresh scouting strategy and making moves on waiver claims, the Flames are clearly not sitting idle.
The work is still not finished as Conroy still has some pending unrestricted and restricted free agents that will need to be signed this summer. None will be bigger than goaltender Dustin Wolf, whose entry-level contract will come to an end once this season concludes.
Wolf is certainly looking like the future netminder of the club and this will be a crucial negotiation for Craig Conroy as no one wants to do anything to sour the relationship between the team and Wolf. The real question is: What will Wolf’s next contract look like?
Assessing Wolf’s workload in 2023–24
It has been a crazy year for Wolf to say the least. Going into the season, many thought he would enter as the Flames’ backup goalie behind Jacob Markstrom after being the AHL’s MVP last season. That was not the case, even though Wolf had himself a solid training camp. The Flames were not able to find a move for Dan Vladar. Wolf is exempt from having to go through waivers, so when a trade never materialized for Vladar, it was obvious who was getting cut—preaching patience was paramount with Wolf.
Wolf went down to the Wranglers and continued to do what he does best. He currently holds a 20–11–3 record with a .923 save percentage and four shutouts. It is certainly not the numbers of his MVP season, but it is still elite numbers, especially considering the quality of the Wranglers team has gone way down since just a year ago with many key players either graduating to the Flames or leaving the organization entirely.
Wolf has had a few call-ups to the Flames this season. He has appeared in ten games owning a 3–4–1 record and a .897 SV%. The numbers are obviously not great, but I think his game has been much better than the numbers suggest. When he is given an opportunity to play, it looks like he is an NHL goalie.
He just always looks so calm, cool, and collected in the net, the only bad start he has had thus far was last month against the San Jose Sharks. Neither Wolf himself nor the Flames were good that night, to say the least.
Wolf will most likely stay up with the Flames for the rest of the season as Markstrom continues to work his way back from an injury. Once the Flames season concludes, Wolf will go back to the Wranglers for the playoffs (assuming they get there).
What Wolf can sign for this offseason
Wolf will be a restricted free agent this summer with no arbitration rights, so unless another team swoops in to offer-sheet the goaltender, Wolf will have an NHL contract with the Flames for next season.
It is always difficult to gauge what a young player with only 11 NHL appearances to his name will get on his first “big boy” contract. However, Wolf is a little—or rather, a lot—more than just any other NHL player. He has been the best goalie at every level that he has ever played at, we know he has the pedigree of a high-end goalie, we have seen it this year at times. It will all be about consistency moving forward, and if Wolf can become consistent, then the Flames are going to have a future superstar goalie on their hands.
Conroy and Wolf’s team will most likely come to an agreement on a bridge deal spanning anywhere between two and three years, a deal that will end with Wolf still a restricted free agent, so the Flames will continue to hold his rights. In terms of the dollar amount, it is anyone’s guess as to where it will land. If Dan Vladar is moved, you can allocate some of his $2.2M directly to Wolf. If I had to ballpark it, he probably comes in at two years at around $1.5M to $2M per year, and I guarantee that it will be a one-way contract, as it should be.
Part of me would like to see the Flames do something that you would only see in NHL 24 Franchise Mode and hand Wolf an eight-year deal that comes in around $3.5–$4.5M a year—a contract that would be an overpay in the first couple of years but in hopes it is a steal for the last six or even seven years of the deal. Obviously, that is totally unrealistic, but it is fun to think about nonetheless.
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It is time for Wolf to get significant NHL time
It already looks like the Flames have made the decision to give Wolf some run for the remainder of the season. With playoffs virtually out of reach at this point, there will be nothing left to lose by giving the net to Wolf as much as possible moving forward. He has proved everything he has to prove at the AHL level and next year will be the time for him to look forward and be done with AHL hockey.
Next season will be a crucial year for Wolf and his development as he will undoubtedly be spending the entire year with the Flames, and it has to be in more than just a backup role. Wolf needs to be in a tandem role where he can earn his split of the games. Whether that means only one of Markstrom or Vladar are back next year, or maybe even both are off to new destinations, it will be important to find the right partner for Wolf to split time with.
There is no better time than the present for the Flames to find out what Wolf can achieve at the NHL level, and if the past is correct, the Flames may just have a special player on their hands.
Photo by Brett Holmes/Icon Sportswire
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