It’s a new era for the Calgary Flames, and it’s filled with young talent. At this point, there is plenty to look forward to all around the prospect pool and even within the NHL lineup. Now, thanks to general manager Craig Conroy shipping off Jacob Markstrom to the New Jersey Devils for a 2025 first-round pick and the big defenceman, Kevin Bahl, the time for Dustin Wolf to take charge is here.

With the future on its way and the off-season the time to explore the NHL landscape (and make predictions or provide opinions on certain positions or teams), The Athletic posted the final instalment of a three-part series looking at the current and future outlook for team’s goaltending situations. The Flames ranked fifth overall, with their current situation ranking 20th, their future ranking fifth, and their “cap” sitting at third — in case you’re unable to access the article due to the paywall and this last part is a little bit confusing, the “cap” section refers to the salary cap and what that looks like for the teams.

Here’s the more detailed way the article describes it:

The three contributors to this series of articles were Jesse Granger, who handled the current part of the descriptions; Scott Wheeler, who handled the future part; and, as mentioned in the quoted passage, Sean McIndoe, who handled the cap section.

The Flames rank so high because all three of these writers, like almost everyone around the NHL and NHL media spheres, are very high on Wolf. Granger describes him as “one of the best young goalies in the world at the moment.” Wheeler shows his faith in the young netminder by saying he is one of his favourite prospects in the sport at any position and, most importantly, “I believe he’s going to take the Flames net and run with it toward an excellent NHL career starting next season.” Not only is Wheeler high on Wolf, but he is also high on Arsenii Sergeev, who he grades out to be a B-grade prospect, along with the other additions made to the Flames’ goaltending pipeline, who will take a bit more work.

Finally, McIndoe points out that while the Flames still have Markstrom against the cap because of their retention in the trade with New Jersey, it’s not a huge hit, especially with Wolf and Dan Vladar’s contracts being as easy to manage as any the Flames will have as they try to rebuild back into playoff and Stanley Cup contention.

While it is just a subjective ranking, it’s hard to disagree with many of the points made in the article. They’re points that Flames fans, media, and even those within the organization have been making since Wolf came into his own with the Calgary Wranglers in the AHL. While he still needed time to mature last season, it’s now time for him to take the reins. The future of the Flames blue paint is bright, and the management staff is receiving the recognition they deserve for strong drafting at the position.

As always, head on over to The Athletic to check out their whole series, as it’s a pretty fascinating trio of articles.