Over a quarter way into the 2025-26 season, the Calgary Flames have a goalie sitting at the top of the league. It’s not who anyone would’ve guessed though. Devin Cooley, not Dustin Wolf has been posting elite numbers.

While Wolf struggles with a sophomore slump, backup Cooley has been dominating between the pipes. After slowly earning more starts as the season has gone on, Cooley officially looks like one of the NHL’s very best goalies this season.

Cooley vs Wolf

If you would’ve told someone in September that the Flames would have a goalie sitting at the top of the league and one at the bottom, everyone would’ve guessed it would be 2024-25 Calder runner up Wolf at the top.

Instead, it’s been journeyman goaltender Cooley who has been lights out this season. Wolf meanwhile has really struggled at times, capped off by allowing three goals on five shots the other night.

GoalieRecordSV%GAAGSAxDevin Cooley3-2-1.9302.0110.71Dustin Wolf6-12-2.8903.17-2.44

What’s most surprising here is that Cooley isn’t just slightly ahead of Wolf in most metrics, he’s miles ahead. While Wolf’s numbers are in the dumpster, Cooley looks unbeatable right now. He’s saved a whole 12 goals above expected more than Wolf, despite playing in only 9 games compared to Wolf’s 20.

Whether it’s save percentage, GAA or GSAx, Cooley has been much better than Wolf this year. Chalk it up to Ryan Huska running Wolf into the ground or simply bad luck, but Cooley is massively outperforming Wolf in every metric at the moment.

Cooley sits at the top of the NHL

It’s not just when compared to Wolf that Cooley looks strong. His numbers league wide are super impressive. In fact when you compare them to the rest of the league, he looks like a truly elite goaltender right now.

StatDevin CooleyNHL Rank (Goalies with >9GP)Save %.9302ndGAA2.012ndGSAx10.7113th5v5 Save %High Danger Save %.8726th

Cooley for Vezina? Maybe that’s a bit of a stretch right now, but it’s can be understated just how incredible Cooley has looked this year. Only one goalie in the entire NHL with at least nine games played sits above him for save percentage and GAA.

That’s absurd. Especially when you consider Cooley was the projected AHL starter coming into the season, and it wasn’t until Ivan Prosvetov had a brutal pre-season that Cooley even got the backup job behind Wolf. Even after he was given the job, the Flames reportedly tried to search the trade market for a replacement, not trusting Cooley. In the end they decided to let Cooley earn the role, and their gamble has paid off in a big way.

The anti-tank commander

After Dustin Wolf single handedly saved the Flames from the bottom 10 last year, are we witnessing another goaltending performance for the ages in 2025-26, one that will ruin the Flames draft position?

While it’s still early and the Flames are still in the basement, if Cooley keeps this up he may slowly drag the Flames out of the bottom five in the NHL by season’s end.

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