Putting Dustin Wolf’s new Flames extension in context

Last week, the Calgary Flames made a big splash, signing netminder Dustin Wolf to a gigantic seven year extension worth $7.5 million per season.

In making that move, general manager Craig Conroy locked his team’s starting netminder in until 2032-33. He also handed out one of the biggest contracts in franchise history. We thought we’d dig into current NHL deals, and historical Flames deals, to put Wolf’s extension in the proper context.

(Stick taps to our pals at PuckPedia for all the contractual information!)

All goalie contracts, 2025-26

1. Igor Shesterkin (NYR), $11.5 million AAV
2. Carey Price (SJS), $10.5 million AAV [injured]
3. Sergei Bobrovsky (FLA), $10 million AAV
4. Andrei Vasilevskiy (TBL), $9.5 million AAV
5. Connor Hellebuyck (FLA), $8.5 million AAV
6. Linus Ullmark (OTT), $8.25 million AAV
7. Ilya Sorokin (NYI), $8.25 million AAV
8. Jake Oettinger (DAL), $8.25 million AAV
9. Jeremy Swayman (BOS), $8.25 million AAV
10. Juuse Saros (NSH), $7.74 million AAV
11. Dustin Wolf (CGY), $7.5 million AAV

Of the nine non-injured goaltenders with a higher cap hit than Wolf next season, five of them have won the Vezina Trophy: Shesterkin, Bobrovsky, Vasilevskiy, Hellebuyck and Ullmark. And every single one of those nine goaltenders are two years older than Wolf or more.

The biggest-ever Flames contracts

Wolf’s deal was just the fourth deal ever signed by the Flames with a total value of $50 million or more. Not shockingly, due to the recent growth in the salary cap, all of those deals are pretty recent.

MacKenzie Weegar’s current deal (eight years at $6.25 million) has a total value of $50 million. That was surpassed by Wolf’s deal (seven years at $7.5 million), which reached $52.5 million. Matthew Tkachuk’s sign-and-trade deal with Florida in 2022 reached $76 million (eight years at $9.5 million) and was surpassed shortly after by Jonathan Huberdeau’s $84 million pact (eight years at $10.5 million).

In terms of total dollars dolled out by the Flames, Wolf is technically third but functionally second (given that Florida negotiated Tkachuk’s deal and the Flames executed it as part of the trade).

(Yes, two of the three biggest deals given out by the Flames to players they were keeping were given to Weegar and Wolf, a pair of seventh-round picks.)

The biggest-ever Flames cap hits

Based on the prior section, you can probably make some guesses about which players have had the largest cap hits in Flames history.

Wolf’s $7.5 million AAV is third in franchise history, behind Huberdeau ($10.5 million) and Tkachuk’s 2022 sign-and-trade ($9.5 million).

Behind Wolf are a trio of players with a $7 million cap hit: Jarome Iginla (from his 2008 extension), Nazem Kadri (from his current free agent deal, signed in 2022) and Tkachuk’s 2019 bridge contract.

When you take into account the growth of the salary cap and instead look at percentage of the total salary cap each deal represented when they started, the rankings shift around a bit.

• Huberdeau’s $10.5 million AAV was 12.57% of 2023-24’s cap.
• Iginla’s $7 million AAV was 12.34% of 2008-09’s cap.
• Tkachuk’s $9.5 million AAV was 11.52% of 2022-23’s cap.
• Tkachuk’s $7 million AAV was 8.59% of 2019-20’s cap.
• Kadri’s $7 million AAV was 8.48% of 2022-23’s cap.
• Wolf’s $7.5 million AAV is 7.21% of 2025-26’s cap.

However you slice it, it’s a lot of money and one of the largest deals in franchise history. But when you look at how important Wolf was to the Flames in 2024-25, and his overall career trajectory, it may just be worth it to the Flames – especially when you consider that Wolf’s cap hit is cemented through 2032-33 while the cap keeps on growing.

What do you think of Wolf’s new deal?