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Earlier this week, Scott Wheeler over at The Athletic released his list of the top 100 NHL-drafted skater prospects. Three Calgary Flames prospects appeared on that list.
On Wednesday, Wheeler released his list of the top 20 NHL-drafted goalie prospects… and one Flames prospect, Dustin Wolf, appeared on that list.
Here’s Wheeler setting the eligibility for his list:
To be considered a prospect, a goalie must:
1. Be under 25 years old. This age criteria is more reflective of the typical goalie trajectory, allowing for the continued consideration of a small number of 23- and 24-year-old goalies.
2. Not currently established as one of their NHL club’s two go-to options.
The whole list is behind a paywall and we don’t want to spoil too much, but we’ll share that Wolf is sixth on the list.
Originally drafted by the Flames in the seventh round of the 2019 NHL Draft, Wolf has played five seasons since then and been named his league’s top goaltender in four of them. Heck, here’s a quick rundown of his achievements in the past six seasons:
2018-19
Led WHL in GAA and SV%
WHL & CHL Scholastic Player of the Year
Selected by Flames in NHL Draft
2019-20
Led WHL in GAA & SV%
WHL & CHL Goaltender of the Year
USA Hockey Junior Goaltender of the Year
2020-21
WHL Goaltender of the Year
World Junior gold medal
2021-22
AHL All-Rookie Team
AHL First All-Star Team
AHL Goaltender of the Year
Led AHL in wins
2022-23
AHL First All-Star Team
AHL Goaltender of the Year
AHL Most Valuable Player
Led AHL in wins, GAA, SV% and shutouts
Made first NHL start
2023-24
Made 15 NHL starts
Wolf finished his WHL career second all-time in goals against average (1.84) and second all-time in shutouts (24), trailing Carter Hart and Tyson Sexsmith by two shutouts, with Wolf’s final WHL season being a shortened one due to the COVID-19 pandemic. (If you want to make a case for Wolf being one of the best goaltenders in WHL history, the numbers back it up.)
The 2023-24 season broke Wolf’s streak of collecting year-end hardware, but you could argue it was pretty valuable because of the extended NHL run he received in the last month of the season. Heck, he was still among the league leaders in most AHL goaltending categories despite spending a third of the season in the NHL.
Long story short: Wolf has put together quite a resume and it appears he’ll have every chance to grab hold of an everyday NHL roster spot this coming season.