There’s no mystery in the crease for the Calgary Flames.
Dustin Wolf established himself as one of the most exciting shot-stoppers in the NHL last season and his performances in net over the next year might be the single-most important factor in whether the Flames can improve on their results from 2024-25 and make the playoffs in 2026.
That makes doing a final, mid-summer analysis of the top of the organization’s goaltending depth chart pretty straightforward. It’s Wolf. He’s the one.
After that, though? There are some questions as we begin to sheepishly glance towards training camp:
WOLF’S NEXT DEAL
I’m not sure there are any new insights about Wolf’s game that are really worth exploring in the middle of the summer. The biggest question might be when the Flames sign him to a contract extension.
He’s got one year left on his current deal and the team will surely want to get him to put pen-to-paper on a long-term extension before he becomes a restricted free agent next year.
Wolf is the best under-25 goalie in the NHL right now after a rookie season that saw him go 29-16-8 and post a 2.64 goals-against average and a .910 save percentage. Goalies do tend to regress a bit in Year 2, but there’s no question that the 24-year-old is the Flames’ shot-stopper of the future — and right now.
He’s going to get paid in his next contract, and rightfully so. The Flames have the salary-cap space to give him what he wants; the only question is whether they try to get an extension done as soon as possible or wait to see how next year plays out before negotiating a new deal.
Devin Cooley was excellent in the first half of last season for the AHL’s Wranglers before getting injured.
BATTLE FOR THE BACKUP
With Dan Vladar packing his bags and heading out of town in free agency to sign a deal with the Philadelphia Flyers, the Flames will have a battle for the backup goaltending job in training camp.
It’s going to come down to Devin Cooley and Ivan Prosvetov, and at this point it’s really anybody’s guess who the frontrunner is.
Prosvetov was signed on the first day of free agency after a month of rumours tying his name with the Flames, but it’s hard to get much of a read on him at this point. Flames director of goaltending Jordan Sigalet compared the Russian to Vladar when he first arrived in Calgary, so they’re unsurprisingly high on his potential.
At 6-foot-5, the 26-year-old has the size to play in the NHL — not that that always matters, as the 6-foot Wolf has proven — and Prosvetov did have 24 games of experience in the league before signing in the KHL last year. There are lots of reasons to be intrigued, for sure.
The same can be said of Cooley, who was excellent in the first half of last season with the Calgary Wranglers in the AHL and much less excellent in the back half.
He did get hurt mid-year, though, so if he’s fully healthy you can’t rule him out.
Only a fool would put a wager on who winds up as the Flames’ Day 1 backup at this point.
Ivan Prosvetov, pictured with the Colorado Avalanche in 2024, has drawn a comparison to former Calgary Flames backup Dan Vladar.
AN EYE ON THE WRANGLERS
One of the fun things about having the Flames’ AHL affiliate in town is it offers the chance to get a first-hand look at what they’ve got in their system, and that certainly applies to their goaltenders.
One of Cooley or Prosvetov will likely be the starter for the Wranglers this year, with either Owen Say or Arsenii Sergeev getting much of the rest of the crease duties.
Sergeev is a fascinating prospect. Selected in the seventh round of the 2021 NHL Draft, he led Penn State to the NCAA Frozen Four this year and signed a two-year, entry-level contract with the Flames shortly afterwards. He posted a .919 save percentage, a 2.54 goals-against average and a 19-9-4 record
Waltteri Ignatjew will not be back with the Wranglers next season. He signed with Linkoping HC of the Swedish Hockey League.
The NHLers
Dustin Wolf (24); Ivan Prosvetov (26); Devin Cooley (28)
In the pipeline
Owen Say (24); Arseni Sergeyev (22); Yegor Yegorov (19); Kirill Zarubin (19)