An updated look at the Flames’ goaltending depth chart

The Flames’ goaltending situation has been solidified with the arrival of Dustin Wolf. He’s going to be a future star in net and will be the backbone of this team for a while. After all, he was a big reason why the Flames were in the playoff conversation, as he dominated in his rookie season.

As for the Flames’ backup position, it looks foggy. Ivan Prosvetov was brought over from Russia in hopes that he would be the one backing up Wolf. However, Devin Cooley earned the spot over him. Both players have minimal NHL experience, as Cooley only has six games under his belt. In short, the Flames may be depending on Wolf a lot this season.

Arsenii Sergeev and Owen Say are two interesting goaltenders. Both played in the NCAA Big-10 League last season, where they recorded save percentages over 0.910. Say will be starting this season in the AHL with the Wranglers, where he’ll likely be their backup. They both are still relatively young, so maybe there’s something there. Either way, it’s likely both players will develop into solid goaltenders, at least in the AHL level

The unsigned bunch

As for unsigned goaltenders, the Flames have a trio of players from Russia. These goaltenders have a long road to pro hockey, but fans shouldn’t count all of them out. The players that stand out to me are Kirill Zarubin and Yegor Yegorov. As for Daniil Chechelev, he’s already 24 and the chances he sees pro hockey are small for now.

Zarubin and Yegorov are both 20 years of age, so there’s potential there. Both players are off to solid starts this season in Russia, with Zarubin sporting a 0.923 save percentage with a 2.20 GA in seven games so far. Yegorov currently has a 0.914 save percentage and a 3.19 GA in five games.

In general, while low in the depth chart, these two goalkeepers could progress significantly if given a chance in North America at some point. I expect the Flames to sign at least one of them to an ELC eventually.

Final thoughts

Goaltending has always been a bit of a struggle for the Flames in previous regimes. Now with Dustin Wolf at the helm, it’s a worry the Flames no longer need to have. With that being said, Wolf can’t carry the load forever, as he’ll need help from his backup goaltender as well as the team’s forwards and defenders.