It’s been a better-than-expected start to the season for the Calgary Flames and it may result in the team having an unexpected finalist for the Calder Trophy.
Goaltending was a hot topic heading into the season for the Flames, with the departure of Jacob Markstrom over the summer. It was seen as a bit of a risk handing the keys to prospect Dustin Wolf and career backup Dan Vladar, but so far, the results have been amazing.
Wolf in particular has been a standout story for this Flames team, sporting a 9-5-1 record and a very good .915 SV%. He also has two shutout victories this season, including an impressive 3-0 win over the defending Stanley Cup Champion Florida Panthers over the weekend.
One man wolf pack. pic.twitter.com/QW9cBlrMJI
— Calgary Flames (@NHLFlames) December 15, 2024
In terms of how that holds up across the league, the 23-year-old currently ranks seventh in the league in SV% among goalies who have played at least 15 games this season. Considering he has what many figured would be a lottery team playing in front of him, those are very impressive numbers for a rookie goaltender.
Digging deeper, MoneyPuck has Wolf ranked 20th in the league when it comes to goals saved above expected (GSAx) at +4.2. On the surface, that may not seem that impressive, but you have to consider that a total of 86 goaltenders are ranked on that list, which places Wolf in the upper echelon of that group.
He has a better GSAx than Andrei Vasilevskiy, Ilya Sorokin, and even Markstrom at this point in the season. He is light-years ahead of Utah goaltender Connor Ingram, who is currently ranked last in the NHL with a GSAx of -10.9.
If Wolf can keep up this high level of play throughout the rest of the season, he could make a case for being among the three finalists for the Calder Trophy, awarded to the league’s most outstanding rookie player.
Wolf will have some stiff competition with San Jose Sharks phenom Macklin Celebrini and Philadelphia Flyers youngster Matvei Mitchkov having great seasons, but he is easily the best rookie goalie in the NHL so far this year.
The last time a goalie was named a finalist for the Calder Trophy was in 2023 with Edmonton Oilers netminder Stuart Skinner, who finished that season with a 29-14-5 record and a .914 SV% before eventually losing out on the award to Matty Beniers of the Seattle Kraken.
You’d have to go back to 2009 to find the last time a rookie goalie earned the award, with Steve Mason of the Columbus Blue Jackets taking home the honour that season.
It won’t be easy and there is plenty of hockey left in the season, but Wolf looks like he has a chance of ending that goalie Calder drought.