Calgary Flames assign goalie Dustin Wolf to the AHL’s Wranglers

In what’s essentially a gigantic signal that Jacob Markstrom is ready to return, the Calgary Flames announced on Sunday morning that they’ve assigned goaltender Dustin Wolf back to the American Hockey League’s Calgary Wranglers.

Wolf was originally called up back on Jan. 16 due to Markstrom working through an injury. He spent the week with the big club, backing up Dan Vladar three times but not seeing any game action himself.

The 22-year-old Wolf was originally the fourth-from-last player selected in the 2019 NHL Draft, because he’s considered small for a goaltender – he’s listed by the NHL at 6 feet and 166 pounds – but he’s quite good at getting in the way of the puck. He’s been named the top goaltender in his league in each of his four post-draft seasons.

Due to injuries to Markstrom this season, Wolf has spent 22 of the first 103 days of the season on the NHL roster – that’s over one-in-five days. So far this season, Wolf has appeared in five NHL games and gone 1-2-1 with a 3.46 goals against average and .893 save percentage. He’s dressed in 12 of the Flames’ first 46 games, starting four times and serving as backup eight times. If the idea of this season is to give Wolf a taste of the NHL game – and give him ideas of what he needs to work on to succeed at that level – his handling thus far should help.

On one hand, Markstrom’s missed 13 games this season due to injuries and illness. On the other hand, he’s been excellent when he’s been healthy, going 13-11-2 with a 2.59 goals against average, .912 save percentage and one shutout.

Sending Wolf to the AHL reduces the Flames’ active roster to 22 players: two goaltenders, seven defencemen and 13 forwards. (They also have Martin Pospisil and Oliver Kylington on the injury reserve list.) All-in, the Flames have $82.27 million in active salary cap commitments, which provides them with a good amount of flexibility as they approach the trade deadline in eight weeks.

The Flames are back in action on Tuesday when they host the St. Louis Blues.