Conroy: Goaltending 'a little bit unknown' for Flames ahead of season
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With the Jacob Markstrom era behind them, the Calgary Flames are entering this season without a clear cut No. 1 in net.
General manager Craig Conroy told NHL.com on Sunday that there's an open competition between Dustin Wolf, Dan Vladar and Devin Cooley to determine who will earn playing time this year.
"I want to see where the goaltending goes," Conroy said. "That's a little bit unknown. But I can't worry about it. Talking to the guys, they all believe, 'this is an unbelievable opportunity for me, and I'm going to grab the reins and run with it.' That's what I want, someone to do that. All three guys feel very comfortable they're going to be that person."
Wolf, a seventh-round pick in 2019, emerged as the heir apparent to Markstrom after being named the American Hockey League's most outstanding goaltender in both 2022 and 2023, when he was also named AHL MVP. He went 7-7-1 with a .893 save percentage and a 3.16 goals-against average in 17 games with the Flames last season.
The 23-year-old is off a strong start in his fight for the No. 1 role after turning aside 28 of the 29 shots he faced in Sunday's 6-1 preseason-opening win over the Seattle Kraken. He remains signed through next season at a cap hit of $850,000.
Vladar, 27, has held the backup role with the Flames in each of the past three years. He struggled last season, going 8-9-2 with a .882 save percentage and a 3.62 GAA - his worst marks since joining the Flames. A third-round pick of the Boston Bruins in 2015, Vladar is a pending unrestricted free agent, carrying a cap hit of $2.2 million this year.
Cooley joined the Flames on a two-year, $1.55 million in free agency after making his NHL debut with the San Jose Sharks last season. Undrafted to begin his NHL career, he went 2-3-1 with a .870 save percentage and a 4.98 GAA in six games with the Sharks last year.
The stage for a fight for playing time was set early when the Flames traded Markstrom to the New Jersey Devils on June 19 for a 2025 first-round pick and defenceman Kevin Bahl.
"I love it," Flames head coach Ryan Huska added of the goalie competition ahead of Sunday's game. "You can talk about any player at the end of the year or if you're having conversations with them during the year, often times you hear, 'if I had a little bit more opportunity' or 'if I had a little bit more ice time I know I can show you I can do the job,' and that's a common theme for every player because they all want a little bit more. But in the net now, that's what our guys have, is opportunity.
"It's up to one of them to really step up and grab that job. I guess I'm excited to see who rises. I hope they all do. That'd be great for us. But we know we have good goalies, and we know they're going to give us good games and the competition between all of them are going to be really good."