Calgary Flames goalie prospect Dustin Wolf wins AHL MVP of the year
The American Hockey League has announced that Calgary Wranglers goalie Dustin Wolf has won the Les Cunningham Award for the most valuable player in the AHL this season.
MVP! MVP! MVP! 🐺
Dustin Wolf is the winner of the Les Cunningham Award as @TheAHL's most valuable player for the 2022-23 season.
Congrats Wolfie!
Details: https://t.co/lipWlQAqJN pic.twitter.com/wsrWg006lq
Wolf was the starting goalie for the Wranglers this year, playing the bulk of games for his team. In 55 games played this year, he owns a record of 42-10-2 along with a 2.09 GAA and .932 SV%. Wolf has been far and away the best goalie in the AHL this year, leading the league in wins, GAA, SV%, and shutouts.
He was so dominant that the second-place goalie had 27 wins to Wolf’s 42. It was an easy choice to crown Wolf as the best goalie in the AHL but they took it a step further and recognized him as the most valuable player in the AHL. He did all of this as a 22-year-old goalie with just two years of professional experience, winning top goalie honors both times.
The 22-year-old won the WHL’s goalie of the year in his final two seasons before turning pro and had the league’s best save percentage the year before that. Since going to junior, Wolf has been lights out.
Wolf was originally selected in the seventh round of the 2019 NHL Draft by the Calgary Flames. Upon taking a cursory look at his junior stats, he probably should have been taken higher in the draft, but teams were nervous about his height and passed on him. It was the same story with Buffalo Sabres prospect Devon Levi in the 2020 Draft. Both goalies are “only” 6’0″ and were passed on seven times by almost every NHL team for that fact alone, despite putting up ridiculous numbers for their respective minor league teams.
Wolf played four junior seasons for the Everett Silvertips of the WHL, earning a combined record of 106-34-4. He had a GAA of well under 2.00 for his final three years there and a SV% of at least .935. Some were worried that he wouldn’t be able to translate his game to the pros, but he has done that exceptionally well in his two-year stint with the Wranglers.
He also played his first NHL game this year for the Flames, turning away 23 of 24 shots in the Flames’ 3-1 victory over the San Jose Sharks on April 12. Jacob Markstrom and Daniel Vladar are both signed for next season, but there’s a good chance he’ll be up in the NHL full-time, regardless.