Flames’ Devin Cooley could be an attractive trade option for teams needing goalie help

Credit: Sergei Belski-Imagn Images

Devin Cooley is taking the American Hockey League by storm this season.

The 27-year-old Calgary Wranglers’ netminder is currently lighting it up in the AHL, posting a 7-2-0 record through his first nine appearances, including an impressive 1.54 goals against average and .953 save percentage. With Dustin Wolf and Daniel Vladar in front of him on the Calgary Flames’ depth chart, Cooley is quickly becoming an attractive trade chip for GM Craig Conroy to consider moving.

Cooley signed with Calgary this past offseason, on a two-year, $1.55-million contract and unfortunately for him, and fortunately for the Wranglers, didn’t make the Flames roster out of training camp. At 6-foot-5, Cooley is a presence in net, and he’s hoping his strong play in the AHL can draw some attention from the NHL ranks.

On Friday’s episode of Daily Faceoff LIVE, Tyler Yaremchuk and Frank Seravalli discussed Cooley’s hot start and how his strong AHL play could be appealing to NHL teams in need of goaltending help.

Yaremchuk: Let’s talk about the goaltending market really quick here before we wrap things up. Goalie trades are rare, but are you keeping your eye on a couple situations?

Seravalli: I am, specifically Devin Cooley in Calgary. Maybe one of the surprise stories of the year so far has been the Flames, but their two goals in the NHL Wolf and Vladar, coming off of surgery, have excellent numbers in a year where save percentages have gone down. .906 and .907 I think the two of them are, which is a big reason why their record is what it is.

But, look at these (Cooley’s) numbers in the AHL this year. .953 save percentage, and if you actually take off the first start of the year he made, and just look at the last eight games, he’s at .964. Those are insane numbers.

The Calgary Flames have not gotten calls on Cooley just yet, however, with some of the other guys struggling, and by the way (Colorado Avalanche) Alexandar Georgiev, we blasted him for a couple of weeks, he finally had a really good game. The Philadelphia Flyers, with their backup goalie situation, there’s a bunch of teams who could use a Devin Cooley to cool things off, sort of speak. If that does end up happening, he’s one name to keep an eye on, thanks to the hot start that he’s had.

For more on the Flames’ goaltending situation, the Buffalo Sabres being open for business, and the very latest from around the NHL, watch the full episode here.