Dustin Wolf is struggling, and help isn’t coming

He currently leads the league in both games played by a goaltender and losses. His shots against are only second to Juuse Saros of the Nashville Predators.

Wolf can’t do it all

Last season, we all had front-row seats to what Dustin Wolf can do with even the smallest amount of help. He was the biggest reason Calgary got as close to the playoffs as they did, but it doesn’t look like he is going to be able to carry this team again. I think it’s safe to say that nobody is blaming him. He is currently receiving the least run support in the entire league, with Calgary sitting at the very bottom of the goals per game leaderboard. There are zero goaltenders in the league this season who are going to have to work harder for wins than Dustin Wolf.

Calgary losing this season should help give Wolf some run support in the future, with plenty of offensive talent being featured near the top of this year’s NHL Draft, but it is going to take a bit of time before he starts to reap the spoils that come with being patient. In the short term, it is hard to imagine Calgary bringing in any help for its struggling offence. In fact, it’s looking like they are going to do the opposite.

Nazem Kadri currently leads the Flames in points. Trading him would more than likely be the final nail in the coffin for any hope this team may still have for contending.

What needs to change?

If the Calgary Flames continue splitting games between Dustin Wolf and Devin Cooley at the same rate that they have been so far, Wolf is going to end the season having played 70 games. He would be the first goaltender to touch the 70 games played mark since Cam Talbot back in 2016–17. If the Flames keep losing at the same pace that they have been, roughly 46 of those games will be losses. That would put him tied for the third most losses in a season ever.

Obviously, this would be a worst-case scenario. I highly doubt that the Flames really plan on playing Dustin Wolf 70 games, but it does show pretty well how bad they need to either start giving Devin Cooley more games or bring in somebody they are comfortable giving more games.

This is going to be a very hard season for the Calgary Flames’ franchise goalie; maybe the best thing they can do for him is to let him spend a bit more time on the bench.