Welcome back to our annual Calgary Flames expectations. Today I will go over our final category in goalies. I have already covered forwards and defencemen. The Flames’ goalies this year look vastily different due to the departure of Jacob Markstrom. Dustin Wolf and Dan Vladar should hold a 1A/1B tandem with Devin Cooley as a solid third option.
Dustin Wolf
The year everyone has been waiting for for Dustin Wolf. Wolf has dominated at every single level in his career so far—tons of awards in junior, tons of awards in the AHL. Wolf won best goalie in his league for four years straight from 2020–2023. He had a chance last season if he spent more time in the AHL. To add on to that, in 2022–23, he also took home the AHL MVP award, being the first goalie to do so in about 20 years.
Wolf’s stats in junior and the minors alone make him a very promising goalie for the Flames. Spending a solid amount of time in the NHL last year, we got a taste of what could come. It wasn’t exactly pretty for Wolf, but I wouldn’t say it was horrendous either. He put up a .892 SV% (save percentage), 3.16 GAA (goals against average), and -7.72 GSAx (goals saved above expected). Not what you would hope for but he was a 22/23-year-old goalie being thrown in to NHL games.
With the chance to better ease himself into the best league in the world, I think Wolf could be a huge bright spot for the Flames this season. I don’t want to set super high expectations so I don’t get disappointed. A rookie goalie on a bad team isn’t exactly the combination for great stats. I see Wolf finishing the year with about a .900 SV%, 2.80 GAA, and 0 to 4 GSAx.
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Dan Vladar
Acquired from the Boston Bruins for a third-round pick, Dan Vladar has served as the Flames’ backup since 2021–22. Unfortunately, his perfomance has gotten worse and worse each year. He started with a solid .906 in 2021–22, even setting franchise records, but becoming one of the worst backups in the league this prior year. Vladar has glimpses of starter type skill but he just hasn’t been able to put it together.
As I mentioned, this past season was very weak for Vladar. His numbers were not great and was among the worst goalies in the NHL. His .882 SV%, 3.62 GAA, and -10.76 GSAx was very ugly. He did have some decent stretches when Markstrom went down, but he wasn’t able to consistently keep that performance.
Vladar has his chance just like Wolf to prove himself with the 1A/1B tandem. With them being at very different points in their career, Vladar will also have to serve as a guide for Wolf. Everything considered for Vladar, I expect him to have around a .895 SV%, 3.15 GAA, and -3 to 0 GSAx.
Devin Cooley
Devin Cooley has had a very interesting career path so far. Up until last year, he had never played an NHL game and flipped between the AHL and ECHL. He’s 27 years old. But his chance finally came with the San Jose Sharks this past season.
Cooley started six games, winning two and losing four. He posted a .870 SV%, 4.98 GAA, and -4.45 GSAx in those games. His AHL numbers also weren’t the strongest with .891 SV% and 3.77 GAA.
Unless something surprising happens, I don’t see Cooley as a mainstay in the NHL next year. He’ll get some games here and there when one of Vladar or Wolf inevitably go down with an injury. Due to that I think you’re looking at a .890-.895 SV%, 3.20 GAA, and -2 to 0 GSAx in those limited games.
A year of chances for the goalies
This year for the Flames goalies is a year of chances for all of them. Dustin Wolf is looking to use his opportunity to show that he is that hyped up goalie who can possibly be great for decades. Then the other side of the tandem is Dan Vladar who will get a stronger chance to display his skills and maybe put up better numbers. Finally, Devin Cooley will get the opportunity to battle for a NHL spot at camp and throughout the entire year.
Photo by Brett Holmes/Icon Sportswire
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