NHL teams are set to submit their final rosters today, as the 2025-26 season is set to begin. With the season starting, the Calgary Flames are in a position where they have an abundance of cap space. One reason for that was due to their cheap blueline, but it should also be noted that the Flames will be heading into the season with the cheapest goaltending duo in the entire league.

Flames are saving major money in net

As of now, the Flames are officially last in the league in terms of goalie spending. Here are the bottom five teams for reference:

TeamGoaltending Cap HitCarolina Hurricanes$4.75 millionSan Jose Sharks$4.5 millionMontreal Canadiens$4.3 millionEdmonton Oilers$3.6 millionCalgary Flames$1.625 million

The Flames will be starting the season with Dustin Wolf and Devin Cooley as their tandem in net. Both players will make less than a million this season, but Wolf’s cap hit will rise substantially once his new extension kicks in. After that, the Flames would no longer be last, as their goaltending cap hit would increase from $1.625 million to more than $7.5 million, likely placing them in the middle of the league.

It’s a good thing that Flames already gave Wolf his big payday. His current cap hit $ of $850K is highway robbery, especially if he performs just like he did last season. He’s already being discussed as a top goaltender in this league, and there’s no denying that the sky is the limit for Wolf as the Flames’ starter. As for Cooley, he’ll be making around league minimum and in the last year of a two-year deal.

With that being said, Wolf’s workload is bound to increase this season. Cooley only has six games of NHL experience, and didn’t exactly have the strongest preseason. If the Flames are truly dead set on trying to compete, Wolf will be seeing the net a lot more. 60 or more games is not a stretch, considering that Wolf was a big reason why the Flames even were in the playoff conversation last season.

Looking at the opposite side

For reference again, here are the top five teams that are currently spending the most on goaltending heading into 2025-26:

TeamGoaltending Cap Hit New York Rangers$13.05 millionBoston Bruins$11.25 millionNew York Islanders$11 millionSeattle Kraken $10.9 millionTampa Bay Lightning$10.75 million

I was honestly surprised to see the Seattle Kraken this high up for goalie spending, but it makes sense given how they both have Philip Grubauer and Joey Daccord making $5 million or higher. The rest of the teams also make sense, as they each have a starting netminder making serious cash.

Compare these teams to the Flames, where their starter is making less than a million this season, and it’s quite remarkable. Also, out of all these teams, I would say Tampa is the only team that can be classified as a Stanley Cup contender.

Goaltending could go either way for the Flames this season

Nobody is denying that Wolf will be a starter in this league for a long time. The main issue is that burnout could be a real possibility for him this season. Hopefully, he gets some help from Cooley, but given his lack of experience, it may be a challenge. After all, if Wolf suffers an injury or struggles for long stretches in the season, things could go sideways for the team.

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