Kaylie Dankevy

Dustin Wolf, who turned 22 today, made 28 stops on Saturday to backstop the Wranglers to a 3-2 win over Abbotsford to clinch first overall in the AHL. In 55 games in his second pro season, Wolf goes 42-10-2 with 7 shutouts, 2.09 GAA, and .932 SV%. How impressive is that? He’s only the 8th goalie in the last 30 years in the American Hockey League to post a save percentage greater than .930 while being 21 years old or younger. Working backwards, here’s the chronological list along with where and when each player was drafted and how many NHL games they’ve logged (so far): Dustin Wolf, 21, 2022-23 Calgary | 55 gm, 42-10-2, .932 - 2019 7th round (214th) by Calgary, 1* NHL game Matt Murray, 21, 2015-16 Wilkes-Barre | 31 gm, 20-9-1, .931 Matt Murray, 20, 2014-15 Wilkes-Barre | 40 gm, 25-10-3, .941 - 2012 3rd round (83rd) by Pittsburgh, 272* NHL games Robin Lehner, 21, 2012-13 Binghamton | 31 gm, 18-10-2, .938 - 2009 2nd round (46th) by Ottawa, 364* NHL games Jonathan Bernier, 21, 2009-10 Manchester | 58 gm, 30-21-6, .936 - 2006 1st round (11th) by Los Angeles, 403* NHL games Jaroslav Halak, 21, 2006-07 Hamilton | 28 gm, 16-11-0, .932 - 2003 9th round (271st) by Montreal, 581* NHL games Cam Ward, 20, 2004-05 Lowell | 50 gm, 27-17-3, .937 - 2002 1st round (25th) by Carolina, 701 NHL games Hannu Toivonen, 20, 2004-05 Providence | 54 gm, 29-18-3, .932 - 2002 1st round (29th) by Boston, 61 NHL games Martin Biron, 21, 1998-99 Rochester | 52 gm, 36-13-3, .930 - 1995 1st round (16th) by Buffalo, 508 NHL games *Still active It’s been two impressive seasons for Wolf since graduating from the Everett Silvertips of the Western Hockey League where he shone in his four seasons major junior. In 47 games with Stockton last season as a rookie, he was 33-9-4 with 0 shutouts, 2.35 GAA, and .924 SV%. It sets up a real interesting conversation for the off-season and whether the Flames make room for Wolf at the NHL level now or if they remain status quo with Jacob Markstrom (age 33) and Dan Vladar (turns 26 in August) and enter training camp with a three-way battle between the pipes. To recap each of their contract situations: - Markstrom has three years remaining on a deal that pays him $6M AAV. He has a full no-move clause. - Vladar signed a two-year extension in October that pays him $2.2M AAV for each of the next two seasons. - Wolf has one more year to go on his entry-level contract that carries a cap hit of $813K AAV. What we’ve learned about Wolf is this a confident, mature, and hard-working young man. If he returns to the AHL to start next season, I don’t think there are any worries that he would handle it poorly and at 22, you do want him playing as much as possible (versus working the D gate on the Flames bench) so perhaps short-term, that’s how this unfolds to start next season. But he’s too talented to go back to the minors for two more full seasons so if you’re the Flames organization and whoever will be in the GM’s chair this summer and beyond, it’s not a question of *if* you have to make a decision with your goaltending, it’s only a matter of *when* you make that decision and what that direction is.