Quote:
Originally Posted by Royle9
The team is definitely not built around Wolf.
Flames absolutely lucked out on taking a shot at a very undersized yet underestimated goalie and its paid off for them in spades.
But to say they've built the team around Wolf is asinine.
Wolf's started half a season in the NHL its impossible to say.
Now starting this year you could say they've pushed their "window" if you want to call it that due to having a calder finalist goalie, but you cant really blame them as Wolf is bound to steal you a handful of games again this year that we should probably lose.
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Fair enough. I rephrased the question to Chat GPT.
What number of NHL teams in the last 15 years have become contenders when they have an elite goaltender early in their retool or rebuild.
ChatGPT said:
(Total: 6)
Montreal Canadiens – Carey Price
Buffalo Sabres – Ryan Miller
Florida Panthers – Roberto Luongo
NY Islanders – Rick DiPietro
Minnesota Wild – Niklas Bäckström
Calgary Flames – Miikka Kiprusoff
✅ How Many Became Real Contenders or Cup Teams?
0 out of 6 became true, sustained contenders (multiple playoff rounds, consistent Cup potential).
Montreal made one Final (2021) but was not a sustained contender.
Even giving Montreal partial credit, that’s 1 out of 6, or roughly 17% success rate.
📊 Estimated Success Rate:
🔥 ~0–17% of teams that built starting with an elite goaltender early in a rebuild became contenders in the last 15 years.
In contrast, nearly every modern Cup winner or finalist had elite skaters in place before goaltending solidified.
AI isnt the end all be all obviously, and I don't really think DiPietro would be considered elite at the NHL lvl either but food for thought.