Dustin Wolf has a chance to become a Flames player: Homegrown starting goaltender

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Trevor Kidd and Mike Vernon: This is a general list of NHL starting goaltenders developed and developed as an organization by the Calgary Flames.

Vernon won the Cup in 1989 and Kidd will forever be immortalized as the guy who outscored Martin Brodeur.

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It was a long cold streak of picking up pucks. Whether it's due to bad luck or a lack of skill, the Flames will try to break the drought with Dustin Wolf.

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Being relatively small (6-foot-0), Wolff, the fourth-overall pick in the 2019 draft, was a two-time WHL Goaltender of the Year and CHL Goaltender of the Year during his junior career.

His time in the AHL was exceptional, where Wolff managed to collect a full shelf of individual awards, including: One rookie team game, two first team all-star games, two Aldege “Baz” Bastien awards (best goaltender). league), the Less Cunningham Award (league MVP), the Harry “Hap” Holmes Award (lowest GAA), and the President's Award (outstanding achievement).

In three seasons in the AHL, Wolff ranked fourth, first and third in the league in save percentage, respectively. Not to mention three consecutive NHL wins, including a 6-5 decision over Arizona on Sunday night.

It's safe to say that no Flames goaltender has had a better pedigree.

Wolf is the most decorated prospect in the Calgary organization right now. However, the organization's long history of poor goaltending choices and the player's less-than-ideal appearance permeate the entire endeavor.

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No doubt, Wolf's NHL efforts will be watched with concern during his internship, but the rush to make a decision should be replaced by a calm and long and patient development period.

Goaltender is the most difficult position in hockey to both evaluate and predict. The batsmen are very dependent on the team in front of them. The number and quality of shots can affect your save percentage and win rate.

What's more difficult is the very small range between great and terrible for playing the puck in the NHL.

For example, imagine you are taking a test at a school with a steep grade curve between 93% (A+) and 87% (F). These are some of the reasons why even an established veteran like Jacob Markstrom could see his save percentage go from great (.922 SV% in 2021-22) to abysmal (.892 SV% in 2022-23) from season to season.

Goalkeepers are also the most difficult players to develop. The cost of a mistake in net is very high, and it's not like a coach can hide a goaltender on the fourth or third pairing.

As a result, it is difficult for NHL coaches to trust young, unproven goaltenders. They are usually not allowed to play through their mistakes.

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Instead, young pitchers typically have to string together long stretches of above-average play to stay in the league and become starters just by outplaying an incumbent.

All of these factors are very important when a team is competitive. In those situations, a club rarely has the luxury of running with a young linebacker and hoping he finds his way as they fight for playoff or postseason wins.

In general, it's no surprise that most goaltenders don't tend to make NHL starts until their mid-to-late 20s.

Again, Markstrom is an interesting case study. The club's current starter was selected in the second round of the 2008 draft, but didn't play more than 35 games in a season until 2017. Long internships are the rule, not the exception, in the folds.

Confidence and a large sample size of games are what's needed to effectively evaluate a young puck, neither of which are usually available.

The Flames can't give any of those things to a goaltender either. They also rarely have a perspective worth the effort in the system.

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Wolff's resume suggests he could be a competent NHL starter, if not a star. His short stature can tempt fans and management alike to decide if he isn't immediately ahead of the show, but that should be resisted.

As the saying goes, “small players have to prove they can play, big players have to prove they can't.” This reality should be countered, at least in cases where a junior player has been exceptional at every other level he has played.

Calgary is about to start rebuilding. If patient, an organization can time their return to competitiveness just like a wolf becomes a starter.

The Flames never had a good chance to break their goaltending curse.

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