What's Changed For Dustin Wolf And The Flames?

A year ago, one of the biggest questions the Calgary Flames had was whether or not their rookie goaltender, Dustin Wolf, would live up to the high expectations he set for himself.

The Flames insulated Wolf with some advantageous starts at the beginning of his rookie campaign, with a serviceable backup in Dan Vladar taking the bulk of starts against more difficult opponents.

Wolf started 19 games in the first three months of the 2024-25 season, with only four of those games coming against playoff teams. This process was executed masterfully by coach Ryan Huska, and it was evident in Wolf’s play, building confidence early on before being turned to for tougher assignments with less rest down the stretch.

Now that Wolf has a $52-million contract, expectations have changed. That insulation isn’t there for him anymore, and he’s struggled as the Flames’ workhorse.

• 2024/25: 53 GP, .910 SP, 2.64 GAA, 11.9 goals saved above expected (19th)
• 2025/26: 7 GP, .875 SP, 3.61 GAA, -7.6 goals saved above expected (66th/Last)

(Stats courtesy of moneypuck.com)

Wolf has proven at every level of his career that he can handle – and even excel – when given a heavy workload. He put together a .936 save percentage and a 1.69 goals-against average in 61 WHL games with the Everett Silvertips in the 2018-19 season and finished with a .932 SP and 2.09 GAA in 55 AHL games with the Calgary Wranglers.

This season, the Flames haven’t played much of a different game defensively than the one that Wolf found so much success in last season. While they’ve allowed high-danger opportunities at a slightly higher rate than last season in their small sample size, Wolf’s save percentage on high-danger chances has dropped significantly.

• 2024/25: .834 high-danger SP on 6.5 high-danger shots against per 60 minutes
• 2025/26: .727 high-danger SP on 8.28 high-danger shots against per 60 minutes

(Stats courtesy of naturalstattrick.com)

So what’s changed?

As one of the league’s smaller goaltenders, the six-foot Wolf has less margin for error when tracking screens or lateral plays, which are situations where even slight misreads can turn into goals. Some players have defied the odds with their size, such as the 5-foot-11 Juuse Saros, but it could be a difficult adjustment period for Wolf as shooters are better prepared to identify his weaknesses.

However, the Flames’ struggles go beyond the play of their young netminder. Wolf referred to it in his comments to the media after the team’s 2-1 overtime loss to the Montreal Canadiens on Wednesday.

"I mean, I can't generate offense," he said. "I do my job, I try to keep the puck out of our net, and hope that our guys can generate a couple."

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The team is averaging a league-worst 1.50 goals per game, and their power play is operating at just 12.5 percent. Nazem Kadri leads the team in scoring despite not being able to find the back of the net yet this season, recording just four assists in eight games.

Just as Wolf was eased into his role behind the veteran Vladar, the Flames are attempting to do something similar with their young forwards.

However, when those veterans don’t hold up their end of the bargain, the support system that’s meant to protect their growth quickly turns into another obstacle.

Matt Coronato and Connor Zary have shown flashes of being able to act as great complementary pieces to a well-rounded offense, but the intention was never to rely on them so heavily at this point in their careers.

Without consistent scoring from veterans, such as Blake Coleman and Jonathan Huberdeau, or even established middle-six players, such as Joel Farabee or Morgan Frost, that protective layer disappears, leaving Calgary’s development plans in a difficult spot.

While the Flames’ offense has yet to find its spark, there’s still a ton of time for things to turn around. The underlying numbers suggest they might deserve better results than what they’ve gotten.

In 5-on-5 situations, Calgary ranks seventh in expected goals-for percentage, third in Corsi-for percentage and seventh in scoring chances-for percentage despite having the league’s worst shooting percentage as a team (4.81 percent). There’s only so much weight that these metrics can carry when measuring how they’ve played this early in the season, but there is a silver lining here.

That said, the process can only get you so far. Results matter, and the Flames need to quickly find their identity to give GM Craig Conroy a clearer idea of the direction this team needs to take.

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