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Looking back on the franchise’s history, quite a few Calgary Flames rookies have won the National Hockey League’s top honour for freshmen, the Calder Memorial Trophy. But no Flame has captured the Calder since the great Sergei Makarov way back in 1989-90 – and because Makarov won the award at the tender age of 31, the league changed eligibility rules to prevent a repeat of that feat.
In 2024-25, there could be quite a few really exciting rookies entering the NHL. And one Flames prospect, goaltender Dustin Wolf, will attempt to do what no Flames player has done in 35 years: win the Calder Trophy. (And what no Flames player has done in 37 years: win the Calder Trophy in their 20s.)
Over at Daily Faceoff, our pal Steven Ellis profiled the top 25 contenders for the Calder for the upcoming season, with Wolf included on his rundown.
Here’s Ellis:
Few goalie prospects have been as dominant at just about every level they’ve played in as Wolf. Last year was the first time that he didn’t win top goalie honors in either the WHL or AHL since 2018-19 (when, funny enough, he led the WHL with a .936 save percentage), but he still put up a 20-12-3 record in the AHL with four shutouts and a .922 save percentage. Wolf is on the smaller side at six-foot, so there are concerns about whether his skill will translate to the NHL, but I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s a top-10 goalie in the NHL by December, either. When Wolf’s on his game, few can be as dominant as he can. Don’t be surprised if he has established himself as Calgary’s clear No. 1 by the midway point.
If you’ve never visited FlamesNation before: welcome, and let us tell you a few things about Dustin Wolf:
- He was drafted fourth-from-last (214th overall) in the 2019 NHL Draft, primarily because he’s considered undersized for a goaltender at 6’0″ and 165 pounds.
- In the four seasons after being selected fourth-from-last, he was named the top goaltender in the league he was playing in every year – twice in the Western Hockey League (2019-20 and 2020-21) and twice in the American Hockey League (2021-22 and 2022-23) – and he was the most valuable player in the AHL in 2022-23, too.
- He played a third of the 2023-24 season in the NHL due to injuries first to Jacob Markstrom and subsequently to Dan Vladar, and he looked very much at home in the Flames’ net in March and April.
In short: Wolf is really, really good, and while it’s natural to be skeptical about goaltending prospects in general and “undersized” ones in particular, he’s faced that skepticism at every level he’s played and managed to emerge as that league’s top goaltender. With the departure of Markstrom via a trade to New Jersey this past summer, Wolf will be given every chance to grab hold of the net in Calgary. While goaltenders rarely win the Calder, Wolf could be the best Flames rookie in awhile.
The last three Flames to get close to the Calder Trophy were Jarome Iginla (1996-97, second in voting), Dion Phaneuf (2005-06, third in voting) and Johnny Gaudreau (2014-15, third in voting). Connor Zary finished eighth in voting last season. On bet365, Wolf has the seventh-best odds to win the Calder this season, behind Matvei Michkov, Macklin Celebrini, Logan Stankoven, Cutter Gauthier, Will Smith and Lane Hutson.
Do you think Wolf can make a run at the Calder Trophy this season? Let us know what you think in the comments!
