[stemit14]

I actually think the management group has a lot of faith in Wolf… while most of us here (myself included) want to see him playing a solid chunk of games right now, I think the flames are trying to protect him a little. We’ve seen what happens to so many young goalies when they are given too much too soon. Levi in Buffalo is a great example this year. We see so many teams protect young players at other positions based on matchups and face-offs… it’s important to do the equivalent with goalies IMO.

I’ll be fine with the flames trading Markstrom if it’s for a hall of a return… but his contract right now works out really well for the development of Wolf into an NHL starter. If Vladar is traded before the deadline, they could give Wolf some protected starts for the rest of this season - give Wolf the “easier” or low-scoring teams on any back-to-backs. Not because of Wolf's ability but because in the few games he’s played so far, the flames have been very poor defensively in front of him. He could use some games to get confident at this level.

Something similar could be done next year for the first 25-30 games with Wolf as Markstrom’s backup. Start to give him tougher opponents in the back half of the season. Have him play a decent amount of games for a typical backup… 25-30 games throughout the year. Hard to know right now what kind of team Calgary will be next year… if Hanifin, Tanev and Lindholm are all gone and it turns into a full rebuild, that first year can be very tough on a young goalie that’s behind a young team. Having Markstrom around could be very valuable to protect Wolf’s development.

In the 2025-2026 season (Markstrom’s last under this contract), he could split the season pretty evenly with Markstrom. With Markstrom being the “starter” for the first half of the season and Wolf being the “starter” for the second half of the season. In the 2026-2027 season, Wolf is the starter with a reliable veteran backup signed that can play 25-30 games - maybe it’s Markstrom one a one-year deal.

This long-term plan could go faster or slower depending on both Wolf and Markstrom's performances. But this is how guys like Demko and Shesterkin have been developed from promising goalie prospects to top 10 goalies in the NHL.