Calgary Flames goalie Dustin Wolf passes the puck during a training camp practice session in Calgary on Sept. 19, 2024.Jeff McIntosh/The Canadian Press
Among the competitions for jobs at Calgary Flames training camp, the battle for starting goaltender stands out.
The trade of Jacob Markstrom to the New Jersey Devils in June opened the door for a new No. 1 to walk through.
Dan Vladar and Dustin Wolf are the two main contenders trying to land that job, although the newly acquired Devin Cooley wants to make it a three-man race.
The 27-year-old Vladar has been Markstrom’s backup the past three seasons. Wolf, 23, saw a spate of starts to end last season when Vladar required hip surgery.
Cooley, 27, played his first six NHL games last season for the San Jose Sharks before signing a two-year contract with the Flames in July.
“It is weird. I’ve never been in this situation. I’ve always been the younger guy,” Vladar said.
“It didn’t matter if I was here, or in the AHL, East Coast or back in Europe, I was always the younger guy.
“All of us are still pretty young. Everybody wants to be that guy, so it’s just great for the team.”
The 6-foot-5 Vladar is 35-21-9 in 70 games played for the Flames. He’s in the final year of a contract that pays him US$2.2-million.
The Czech’s past season ended in late March with hip surgery.
“It’s a game-changer for me, but it was a big surgery, so still coming off of it,” Vladar said. “I still have some things to improve. I hope by Game 1 of the season, I’ll be ready, and I’m doing everything I can for it.”
Wolf, the American Hockey League’s goalie of the year in both 2022 and 2023, went 7-7-1 in 17 games for the Flames last season and won his final four starts. The 6-foot Californian signed a two-year contract extension worth US$1.7-million in July.
“I feel like I’m as ready as I’m going to be right now,” Wolf said. “All three of us are fighting for a job here. You don’t want it any other way. It definitely brings the best out of you.”
Job opportunity was a compelling reason for the 6-foot-5 Cooley, also from California, to sign with the Flames.
“At this point in my career, it’s all about opportunity,” Cooley said. “I’m here to go and compete and hopefully push one of those guys out of a job and go from there.”
Calgary (38-39-5) finished 17 points outside the playoffs last season and missed the postseason a second straight year.
There are fewer free-agent question marks hanging over the team now than a year ago. Top centre Elias Lindholm and veteran defencemen Noah Hanifin, Chris Tanev and Nikita Zadorov were traded away in-season and in the last year of their contracts.
The Flames play the first of eight preseason games Sunday in Seattle against the Kraken. Calgary opens the regular season at home Oct. 12 against the Philadelphia Flyers.
Other training-camp subplots are who will slot in on a line with Mikael Backlund and Blake Coleman, who will be Jonathan Huberdeau’s centreman, can first-round draft picks Jakob Pelletier and Matt Coronato solidify jobs up front, and will veteran defenceman Tyson Barrie extend his NHL career as a Calgary Flame?
“There’s a lot of turnover, a lot of young guys, and a lot of internal competition on our team,” Coleman said. “I can’t imagine there’s a better situation to go into a camp than to have so many guys competing for spots.
“That’s what makes you a good team right off the hop. The competition will have been so high through camp, and guys will have brought their best that it makes it an easy transition into the regular season.”
The 33-year-old Barrie, who has played more than 800 NHL games, is at Calgary’s camp on a tryout contract.
Barrie, from Victoria, and Flames captain Backlund are former Western Hockey League teammates with the Kelowna Rockets in 2008-09.
“He knows how to play the game, and he’s got a special talent with regards to working on the power play,” said head coach Ryan Huska, who was the head coach of that Rockets teams that won a WHL title.
“He’s come back now and he’s energized. When you go through a summer and you’re not able to find a contract and you come on a PTO, it kind of forced him to have a really good summer. He’s a very proud guy and from what I saw today, he’s in very good shape.”