This is the 2025-26 edition — an archived read. Read the 2026-27 report →
Dustin Wolf
Calgary Flames Goaltender
6 feet, 166 pounds, a .9096 in 53 games, and 17.4 goals of goaltending on a club that scored 213.
| Season | Team | GP | W | L | OTL | GA | GAA | SO | SA | SV% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022-23 | CGY | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1.00 | 0 | 24 | .958 |
| 2023-24 | CGY | 17 | 7 | 7 | 1 | 50 | 3.16 | 0 | 467 | .893 |
| 2024-25 | CGY | 53 | 29 | 16 | 8 | 140 | 2.64 | 3 | 1549 | .910 |
| 2025-26 so far | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Career | — | 71 | 37 | 23 | 9 | 191 | 2.73 | 3 | 2040 | .906 |
This Season So Far
The 2025-26 season has not started. The empty row above is his, and both it and this paragraph fill in on their own from the morning after he first plays: what he has done, what it is worth against his own last season, and the run he is on when the two disagree.
Last Season
29-16-8 in 53 games, .9096 with a 2.64 average and 3 shutouts on 1,549 shots — a rookie season that finished second in the Calder voting.
Calgary’s goaltending came in 17.4 goals better than the chances faced, 5th in the league, on a club that finished 29th in finishing. A team that scored 213 goals took 96 points, and this is where the difference came from.
The Physical Game
6 feet and 166 pounds, which makes him one of the smallest goaltenders to hold an NHL starting job in thirty years, and the game is built entirely around not needing size.
He is exceptionally quick and exceptionally precise. The depth in the crease is judged shot by shot rather than by rule, so he is further out than a big goaltender on a clean look and deeper on a scramble, and he is square more consistently than almost anybody. The rebound control is good. What he cannot do is cover a net by occupying it: a screened point shot he does not see is a goal in a way it is not for a 6-4 man.
The Mental Game
The most striking thing about the season was how little the moment appeared to matter. He was handed the job in October on a club nobody expected to compete, played 53 games, and there is no stretch in the record where the numbers sag.
He has been told he is too small at every level and has been the best goaltender at every level, which is a specific kind of preparation. The competitiveness is visible and never disorganised.
The Intangibles
A seventh-round pick, three American League seasons in which he was the best goaltender in the league every year, and an NHL starting job at 23 that the organisation delayed giving him.
The honest reservation is size and workload: nobody knows what 60 starts a season does to a 166-pound goaltender over a decade. The honest reading of last season is that Calgary had no business being in a playoff race and he put them in one.