Fans had been asking for it all summer and Craig Conroy delivered.
Early on Tuesday morning and just hours before their annual season-opening golf tournament, the Calgary Flames announced the signing of franchise goaltender Dustin Wolf to a seven year, $52.5M contract extension. The contract will carry a $7.5M cap hit over those seven years, beginning for the 2026-27 NHL season. Wolf is starting the final year of a two year, $850K AAV contract.
With the signing, Wolf will be a Flame through at least the 2032-33 season.
Dustin Wolf has become a Face of the Franchise in Calgary
After a tumultuous handful of seasons beginning in the summer of 2022, the Flames had quickly become a destination that established players simply didn’t want to sign with. Johnny Gaudreau, Matthew Tkachuk, Elias Lindholm, Noah Hanifin, and even an ongoing saga with Rasmus Andersson highlighted that Calgary wasn’t the place to be.
One of the most critical missions for GM Craig Conroy upon taking his role in 2023 was to change the narrative in Calgary. However it took some time to implement that vision as he continued to clean up the mess of unhappy players left over by his predecessor.
It seems that we are seeing the fruits of Conroy’s labour pay off in the summer of 2025. The 2024-25 season saw the team vastly overachieve, but more importantly established a culture of a hard-working team that has permeated the organization.
Dustin Wolf was at the forefront of that culture reset, becoming the most important player on the roster over the course of the season. Wolf was the main reason in many games that the Flames had a chance to compete. Simply put he was the MVP of the team despite being a rookie. Wolf’s year finished with a 29-16-8 with a .910 SV% on a rebuilding team. His impressive rookie campaign culminated in a 2nd place finish for the Calder Trophy.
As important as his on-ice contributions have been, Wolf has been just as impressive off-ice in Calgary. He has been a staple around Calgary for a number of summers now, calling the city his home despite being an American goaltender. He has been involved at numerous charitable events around the city and has been a strong ambassador for the Flames and the city of Calgary.
Doing all of this important community work as a rookie and looking to continually take on leadership opportunities has really set him apart. Wolf has quickly become one of faces of the Flames franchise in a short time period. He’s even received a shoutout from Shania Twain. That’s how you endear yourself to the Calgary faithful.
Wolf Not Alone in Signing Long-Term with Flames
With the pen hitting paper in the last 24 hours, Wolf joined fellow core pieces Matt Coronato and Kevin Bahl in signing long-term extensions with the Flames this summer.
Coronato signed a seven year, $45.5M contract in May that carries a $6.5M annual cap hit. It weas another commitment by a young player on the verge of blossoming into an upper-eschelon NHLer. Coronato posted 24 goals in 77 games last year during his first full NHL season.
Bahl was acquired in the summer of 2024 as part of the return in the Jacob Markstrom trade. He firmly established himself as a Top 4 defender on the Flames on the left side and was entrusted with a larger role as the season progressed. Calgary rewarded Bahl with a six year extension carrying a $5.35M AAV in late June.
With Bahl, Coronato, and Wolf signed through 2031, 2032, and 2033 respectively, the Flames have locked up three of their core pieces for at least the next six seasons. For a team that has had a lot of difficulty in signing players, it has been a breath of fresh air as Flames management continues to espouse that Calgary is a place that good players want to be.
Wolf is on the verge of becoming a superstar goaltender in the NHL. An American superstar, who has now committed the next eight years to Calgary and the Flames. He has already pushed a team much further than it should’ve gone in his first full season. He has a relentless drive to win and to improve that simply can’t be taught. Players like him push the organization to be better as a whole.
It may be difficult for those outside of Calgary to grasp the scope of what Wolf’s support of the city means, but for a fanbase that has been burnt by lip service too many times in the last three years, it is simply everything. He has embraced Calgary and the fanbase has embraced him back.
