Part of the fun of covering a National Hockey League team is experiencing the cat and mouse game of trying to get the head coach to confirm his starting goaltender. While often coaches are hesitant to do so, it’s usually pretty obvious based on morning skate or recent game performances, for the past few seasons it’s been pretty obvious for the Flames: Jacob Markstrom was their starter.

Well, that’s not the case anymore.

Markstrom is now a member of the New Jersey Devils, and the Flames for the first time in over a decade are entering the season without a true-blue, established NHL starting goaltender. The Flames will likely head into camp with three goaltenders under contract that have played NHL games: Dustin Wolf, Dan Vladar and Devin Cooley. The trio has, combined, played 99 NHL games.

So… how is this gonna work, and which goaltender will the Flames be able to lean on? Let’s take a look at each of the three candidates.

Here’s the weird thing about Wolf: he’s simultaneously the youngest of the three goaltenders (he’s 23) and perhaps their best option as somebody to lean on, despite only have 18 NHL games under his belt.

Over the past three seasons, Wolf has played between 47 and 56 games between the NHL and AHL. Aside from the pandemic-shortened 2020-21 season, he’s played over 40 games five seasons in a row. He’s used to playing a lot and facing a lot of shots. Yeah, he’s not a terribly experienced NHL goalie, but heading into an 82-game season, he’s somebody that wouldn’t flinch at the big workload.

Additionally, Wolf has the best resume of the three netminders the Flames have in camp. We’ve said it before, but we’ll say it again: over the past five seasons, he’s been named the best goaltender in his league four times (and most valuable player once). And his best goaltender candidacy in the AHL was hurt last season because he was in the NHL for a third of the campaign. If past success is a harbinger of future success, Wolf is someone to watch.

Vladar is 26 and he’s been a pro since 2016-17. Here’s the challenge: he’s usually been a backup or in a tandem, and the most games he’s played in a season was 48, in 2017-18, when he split time between the AHL’s Providence Bruins and ECHL’s Atlanta Gladiators.

Aside from that season, he’s played at most 31 games per year, and often less than that. In the past three seasons, playing behind Markstrom, he’s played between 20 and 27 games. And he’s coming off hip surgery in the spring. He’s a goaltender who’s shown a lot of promise and the ability to steal games, but it’s reasonable to be skeptical that he can withstand a massive workload.

Cooley’s 27 – he’s three months older than Vladar – and recently he’s played on average more than Vladar but less than Wolf. He also has the least NHL experience of the three available netminders: just six games, all last season with the San Jose Sharks.

Cooley went pro in 2020-21, and his highest games-played since then is 34 (in 2021-22, split between the AHL’s Milwaukee Admirals and ECHL’s Florida Everblades). During the last three seasons, he’s played between 20 and 34 games – his average is 28 games.

In short: it’s unclear if any one of the Flames’ three goalies can fill Markstrom’s shoes. Based on how much – and how little – each available netminder has played over the past few seasons, we’re thinking it’s likely the club will need to use all three of them to fill the gap. But if they’re gonna lean on somebody, it might be Wolf.

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