Folks, the days are winding down on the 2024 calendar year, and it was a pretty transformational one for the Calgary Flames. Over the past 12 months, the organization has experienced some pretty significant change, and some individuals have been huge parts of that.

We’ll be spending some time looking at a few of the most interesting and unique stories of the year as 2024 ticks down. And there may not be a more fascinating player in the Flames organization right now than Dustin Wolf – in terms of where his year started and where it ended, and what that progression potentially means for the Flames going forward.

When the 2023 became 2024, Wolf was the undisputed top netminder for the Calgary Wranglers, the reigning American Hockey League most valuable player, and a relatively untested NHL prospect who hadn’t really gotten a run of games to show what he could do at hockey’s top level. He had played six NHL games and posted two wins – one in 2022-23’s final game and one as a call-up in 2023-24.

The first few months of 2024 saw Wolf get called up twice – for a week apiece in January and February – with his final NHL outing in February seeing him give up six goals in a pretty rough outing on Feb. 15 against his hometown team, the San Jose Sharks. But after licking his wounds and rebuilding his confidence in the AHL for a few weeks, he was called back up on Mar. 12 due to an injury to Jacob Markstrom.

To this point, Wolf had been called up to the NHL several times, but all for fairly short stints:

But Wolf’s March call-up ended up being different. He played the third period of a loss to Colorado on Mar. 12 in relief of Vladar, then started the next three games with Vladar as his backup. On Mar. 21, Markstrom returned from his injury and it was announced that Vladar was being shut down due to a lingering hip injury that required surgery.

As a result, Wolf was given a steady NHL routine for the remainder of the season – rather than being parachuted in as short-term help. While his numbers didn’t improve much – his save percentage actually dipped slightly (in a small sample size) during the seven appearances he made after Vladar’s shutdown – he had a handful of strong outings to close out the season, followed by an effective run through two rounds of the Calder Cup playoffs back with the Wranglers.

Nothing about Wolf’s body of work in the first four months of 2024 did anything to cool down the hype for him as the club’s goalie of the future. But at the same time, he had posted a save percentage of .896 over 18 career NHL appearances – healthy skepticism still existed regarding his ceiling and ability to adjust to the NHL.

On June 19, the Flames traded Markstrom to the New Jersey Devils, functionally handing the goaltending reins to Vladar and Wolf. In advance of the 2024-25 season, several outlets suggested that goaltending could be an issue for the Flames with Markstrom gone: Vladar was coming off hip surgery and Wolf was still untested in the NHL.

As 2024 comes to a close, the Flames sit 14th overall in save percentage – and fourth at five-on-five – in the NHL during the 2024-25 season. Vladar has bounced back from his surgery quite nicely, which combined with a pretty favourable schedule has allowed the Flames to use Wolf in advantageous situations. Through 34 games, both netminders have played 17 apiece, with Wolf playing seven current playoff teams and Vladar facing nine. (Wolf’s notably gone head-to-head against Nashville’s Juuse Saros, the Rangers’ Igor Shesterkin, Dallas’ Jake Oettinger, the Islanders’ Semyon Varlamov and Boston’s Jeremy Swayman this season.)

And while Wolf is far from a finished product at the NHL and he’s had some bumps in the road – most recently, a Dec. 8 loss in Dallas where the third period got away from him – as the curtain begins to be drawn on 2024, he has won more games for the Flames during the calendar year than any other goaltender (16 as of Dec. 21) and has established himself as a bonafide Calder Trophy contender.

Considering where Wolf was when the year began, he’s made a massive amount of progress in 2024. And considering how important having a strong goaltender has been to the Flames’ success throughout their history, Wolf’s growth can only be a good sign as the club continues its reconstruction process.