The NHL announced today that Calgary Flames goaltending phenom Dustin Wolf has been named a finalist for the 2025 Calder Trophy. The Calder is awarded annually to the NHL’s rookie of the year.
TOP ROOKIES! 👏
— NHL (@NHL) May 5, 2025
Macklin Celebrini, Lane Hutson & Dustin Wolf are your Calder Trophy finalists — awarded to the NHL’s most outstanding first-year player. #NHLAwards
Find out where the next wave of young talent might be going during tonight's #NHLDraft Lottery which is about to… pic.twitter.com/k14qihgZRx
Wolf’s historic rookie season
The Flames were arguably carried this season by Wolf, who finished the 2024–25 season with a 29–16–8 record, a 2.64 GAA, and .910 SV%.
Wolf set a new franchise rookie record with 53 starts, three shutouts, as well as GAA and SV% for goalies with more than 10 starts. He also finished one win shy of equaling Mike Vernon’s franchise record 30 wins as a rookie.
A bright future
Wolf is well deserving of this honour. He backstopped a Flames team that was expected to finish bottom-five in the NHL this season and scored the fourth fewest goals this season to a 96 point finish which was tied with the final playoff team in the West.
What has been a position of weakness for the franchise is now a clear strength, hopefully with Wolf starting between the pipes for the Flames for the next decade.
Wolf or Hutson?
The Calder is a two-horse race, it appears. The winner will either be Wolf, who put his team on his back every single night, or the Montreal Canadiens’ Lane Hutson, who was a second assist merchant for the Canadiens all year round.
Will we see a repeat of 2002 when a Habs player robbed a Flames player of a major award, or will Wolf see justice and take home the trophy he very much deserves? We’ll find out during the NHL Awards show.
