A Calgary Flames rookie hasn’t won the Calder Memorial Trophy as the National Hockey League’s top freshman since Sergei Makarov in 1989-90. A goaltender hasn’t won the Calder since Steve Mason in 2008-09. A Flames rookie goaltender has never won the Calder, and we’re pretty sure one has never gotten any votes for it.

So with that in mind, friends, let’s discuss the candidacy for Flames netminder Dustin Wolf for the Calder Trophy.

Yesterday, ESPN’s Ryan S. Clark put together a really strong breakdown of the 2024-25 Calder class, with a specific focus on Wolf and goaltenders. If you haven’t read it, check it out.

Generally speaking, goaltenders don’t fare well in Calder voting. As noted, Mason was the last winner. And since him, just six goaltenders have received any first-place votes for the award. And while we’ve see a few netminders finish fairly well in balloting over the past few seasons – Pyotr Kochetkov was fourth in 2023-24, Stuart Skinner second in 2022-23 and Jeremy Swayman fifth in 2021-22 – none of them got close to capturing the trophy.

As a Professional Hockey Writers’ Association member (and past awards voter), here’s my theory: rookie goalies play less than skaters, often a lot less, and it’s been historically difficult to compare goaltender contributions to wins to those from skaters. (Goalies play the most important position in the game, but have only won the Hart Trophy once in the Lockout Era. Weird.) So between seeing particular goaltenders play less often and the challenge of comparing goalie stats to skater stats, it does make sense that the bar is a bit higher for rookie netminders. It’s nobody’s fault and there’s no way it’s by design, but it’s a challenge facing goalies.

With that in mind, how does Wolf’s candidacy shape up?

In terms of stats, the Flames are currently the top team in five-on-five save percentage and ninth in all-situations save percentage. And that’s after trading away perennial Vezina Trophy contender Jacob Markstrom. That’s wild, and should garner Wolf a lot of positive attention. On a team that’s a bit of an early surprise in the NHL, Wolf (and goaltending partner Dan Vladar) is a great story. Wolf’s among the top even strength goaltenders in the entire NHL, and that’ll grab some attention.

It’s also worth noting that, from a narrative and reputation perspective, Wolf is someone that will have his backers. He was drafted fourth-from-last in the 2019 NHL Draft – because he’s small for a goalie – and then put together five fantastic post-draft seasons. He plays a really fun style of hockey, has a really likeable, affable personality, and that friend of yours that follows goalies has been bending your ear about him since he was drafted. He’s an easy guy to root for.

And while Calgary being a smaller, western market could be seen as a hindrance to his candidacy – you’ve got to be a really committed hockey analyst to watch Calgary play San Jose or Anaheim on a Wednesday night in a game that starts at 10 or 10:30 Eastern – there are a ton of folks across the hockey world that have been touting Wolf as a top goaltending prospect for awhile. A lot of curious potential voters will stay up late to watch Wolf work, and they’ll loudly discuss how well he’s performing with whoever will listen.

Wolf’s a goalie, and that puts him at a disadvantage when it comes to the Calder Trophy. But his size has put him at an arguable disadvantage throughout his hockey career, and it doesn’t seem to have done much to hinder his progress towards the NHL. We’ll see how things play out over the final 80% of the season, but Wolf’s done a great job putting himself firmly on the NHL’s rookie of the year radar.

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