In advance of the New Year’s Eve game against the Philadelphia Flyers, the Calgary Flames have completed a bit of business. The club announced on Tuesday morning that they’ve re-signed backup goaltender Devin Cooley to a two year contract extension worth $1.35 million per season.

Per our pals at PuckPedia, the deal is pretty straightforward: $1.35 million in one-way salary in 2026-27 and 2027-28.

A product of the Bay Area – Los Gatos, California, to be precise – Cooley is in his first full season at the NHL level, serving as backup behind Flames starting netminder Dustin Wolf. The 28-year-old has gone 4-4-2 with a 2.40 goals against average and .914 save percentage this season in 13 appearances.

Cooley’s road to being an NHL regular has been pretty long and fascinating. He played junior hockey in the USHL (with the Muskegon Lumberjacks), the NAHL (with the Springfield Jr. Blues) and the BCHL (with the Wenatchee Wild) before joining the University of Denver in 2017-18. He spent three seasons with the Pioneers before going pro in 2020-21, signing an entry-level deal with the Nashville Predators.

Cooley spent three seasons in Nashville’s system, working his way up from the ECHL to the AHL but not really getting much of a toehold in Nashville’s depth chart. He left the Predators organization as a free agent in 2023, signing with Buffalo. He served as Devon Levi’s backup in AHL Rochester before being traded to San Jose at the 2024 trade deadline, making his NHL debut with the Sharks and playing six games for them down the stretch.

He joined the Flames organization as a free agent during the 2024 off-season to a two-year deal – the first season two-way and the second season one-way – and spent 2024-25 as the Wranglers’ starter. He was flat-out excellent in the first half of that season and even garnered some MVP buzz before his season was derailed by a concussion. But Cooley worked his way back from his injury and rebuilt his confidence, too. He made the Flames out of training camp this October and has impressed in backup duty behind Wolf.

And that’s not even getting into Cooley’s amazing interviews.

With Wolf entering a seven year deal next season and Cooley under contract for two more, this signing solidifies the Flames’ NHL tandem through 2027-28, and gives the younger netminders in the Flames pipeline a bit of time to keep developing. Given Cooley’s strong play this season and the pretty low cap hit, this signing feels like a win-win for everybody involved.

The Flames are back in action on Wednesday when they host the Flyers.

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