Since 2013, the Calgary Flames have used 12 different goaltenders that they’ve acquired from outside of their developmental system. The big reason for that is, to be blunt, they’ve been really horrible at drafting and developing goaltenders since basically forever.
Dustin Wolf is absolutely killing it in the Western Hockey League. He may finally break a decades-long dry spell for drafted netminders. Here’s a brief snapshot – broken down by general manager – of the Flames’ struggles finding puck-stoppers in the NHL Draft.
The Cliff Fletcher years (in Atlanta)
Draft | Goalie | Round | Pick | Flames GP | NHL GP |
1972 | Frank Blum | 6 | 82 | 0 | 0 |
1974 | Bill Moen | 6 | 100 | 0 | 0 |
1975 | Nick Sanza | 9 | 150 | 0 | 0 |
1975 | Brian O’Connell | 10 | 167 | 0 | 0 |
1976 | Mark Earp | 5 | 82 | 0 | 0 |
1977 | Jim Craig | 4 | 72 | 4 | 30 |
1978 | Tim Bernhardt | 3 | 47 | 6 | 67 |
1978 | Bernhard Englbrecht | 12 | 196 | 0 | 0 |
1979 | Pat Riggin | 2 | 33 | 119 | 350 |
The Atlanta years featured a skew towards late picks and very few successes – except for the fabulously-named Bernhard Englbrecht. They went for a few early picks and managed to get Miracle on Ice netminder Jim Craig and the pretty decent Pat Riggin, but there are no home runs here.
The Cliff Fletcher years (in Calgary)
Draft | Goalie | Round | Pick | Flames GP | NHL GP |
1981 | Mike Vernon | 3 | 56 | 527 | 782 |
1982 | Dave Meszaros | 4 | 65 | 0 | 0 |
1983 | Grant Blair | 6 | 111 | 0 | 0 |
1983 | Jeff Hogg | 7 | 131 | 0 | 0 |
1986 | Scott Sharples | 9 | 184 | 1 | 1 |
1988 | Jason Muzzatti | 1 | 21 | 2 | 62 |
1990 | Trevor Kidd | 1 | 11 | 178 | 387 |
1990 | Shawn Murray | 8 | 167 | 0 | 0 |
The good news: they got Vernon and Kidd! The bad news: that’s it. Jason Muzzatti represents one of the franchise’s big drafting whiffs of the Fletcher era.
The Doug Risebrough years
Draft | Goalie | Round | Pick | Flames GP | NHL GP |
1991 | Jerome Butler | 5 | 107 | 0 | 0 |
1991 | Andrei Trefilov | 12 | 261 | 22 | 54 |
1994 | Patrik Haltia | 6 | 149 | 0 | 0 |
Risebrough only took three goalies and one of which was Trefilov, one of the most underrated depth players in franchise history. Was he good? Uh, no. But man he was always the first guy called up when weird stuff went down.
The Al Coates Years
Draft | Goalie | Round | Pick | Flames GP | NHL GP |
1997 | Evan Lindsay | 2 | 32 | 0 | 0 |
1998 | Dany Sabourin | 4 | 108 | 4 | 57 |
1999 | Craig Anderson | 3 | 77 | 0 | 636 |
1999 | Matt Underhill | 6 | 170 | 0 | 0 |
Lindsay and Anderson both didn’t sign and re-entered the draft. Lindsay didn’t amount to anything, but Anderson is still in the NHL. Whoops.
The Craig Button years
Draft | Goalie | Round | Pick | Flames GP | NHL GP |
2000 | Brent Krahn | 1 | 9 | 0 | 1 |
2000 | Levente Szuper | 4 | 116 | 0 | 0 |
2001 | Andrei Medvedev | 2 | 56 | 0 | 0 |
2019 | Curtis McElhinney | 6 | 176 | 29 | 232 |
Krahn was drafted ninth overall and played nine goddamn minutes in the NHL. When Ryan Pinder freaks out on Sportsnet 960 The Fan about the horrors of drafting goalies early, this is what he’s having nightmares about. Medvedev was also a historic whiff.
The Darryl Sutter years
Draft | Goalie | Round | Pick | Flames GP | NHL GP |
2004 | James Spratt | 7 | 213 | 0 | 0 |
2005 | Kevin Lalande | 5 | 128 | 0 | 0 |
2005 | Matt Keetley | 5 | 158 | 1 | 1 |
2006 | Leland Irving | 1 | 26 | 13 | 13 |
2009 | Joni Ortio | 6 | 171 | 37 | 37 |
Ortio was the most successful pick from a group that included a first rounder.
The Jay Feaster years
Draft | Goalie | Round | Pick | Flames GP | NHL GP |
2011 | Laurent Brossoit | 6 | 164 | 0 | 64 |
2012 | Jon Gillies | 3 | 75 | 12 | 12 |
The bar was set low by his predecessors and Feaster cleared it, with both of his drafted goalies playing NHL games.
The Brad Treliving years
Draft | Goalie | Round | Pick | Flames GP | NHL GP |
2014 | Mason McDonald | 2 | 34 | 0 | 0 |
2016 | Tyler Parsons | 2 | 54 | 0 | 0 |
2019 | Dustin Wolf | 7 | 214 | 0 | 0 |
If Wolf beats Parsons to the NHL, the Flames should just stop drafting goaltenders before the fifth round. Forever.