[Signing] Flames re-sign Wolf (2 years, $850k AAV)

[mogg]

Originally Posted by Sylvanfan

With his waiver status it gives the team a lot of flexibility to get Wolf into say 55 games if they want with 35 in the NHL and 20 in the AHL. If Cooley has a good camp any any of the potential that Kevin Woodley talks about him and Vladar might split the other 45 games type of thing, and the Flames can keep him in the NHL without needing to expose him on waivers.

Cooley is also on a two-way next year. Waivers aren’t a concern.

I agree though- one way or another Wolf will get plenty of starts.

[Coach]

Awoooo

[looooob]

to the above- oneway/two way don't factor into waive eligibility for Cooley who is 27 and I think out of options in that regard (not that I'm particularly worried about it)

[Kipper_3434]

Originally Posted by Scroopy Noopers

That “might be” is a fairly important element…



These tales are always so embarrassing. Oh no, the poor professional athletes who play one of the most physical sports in the world, and make absolute bank doing it… we better tip toe around their egotistical feelings about money… Jesus Christ.

Not sure why youre embarrased. Theres nothing egotistical about being paid for your value. Freaking Rooney gets paid more...let that sink in.

[mogg]

Hadn’t realized that waivers and contract type had been decoupled in 2020. Whoops. I found this breakdown really helpful:

https://beyondtheglasshockey.com/202...breakdown.html

[Jay Random]

Originally Posted by Kipper_3434

Not sure why youre embarrased. Theres nothing egotistical about being paid for your value. Freaking Rooney gets paid more...let that sink in.

Every player in the league knows the difference between RFA and UFA contracts.

Apparently some fans think they don't.

[jayswin]

There should be no concerns over this, really. Simple contract - Star prospect goalie gets chance at NHL level, shows rawness, growing pains, along with flashes of what could be a star goalie in due time - gets paid $1.7mil to show more for a couple seasons at which point he'll get paid handsomely if successful.

The concerns of bitterness or needing to tend to his feelings with his contract are off base, imo. There's examples of this in the NHL for sure (one could argue Treliving ground up and coming stars as much as he could on early contracts while bringing in high priced free agents to support them, which may have led to some feelings going into the next contract where they could leave), but I highly, highly doubt this falls under that category.

[Super-Rye]

Really like this contract. They didn't hand the kid anything but the doors wide open. Crease is his if he earns it and that's the way it should be.

[Goriders]

Originally Posted by Calgary4LIfe

I do think a lot of fans won't watch unless the Flames are winning, and they will probably formulate the bulk of their opinion based on Wolf's SV% and win/loss record.



However, most fans will watch, and I do think they will formulate their opinion more on what they see as opposed to the stats.



For instance, is Wolf giving up a goal on the first shot on net often? Does one squeak by him at the end of periods/games? Does he allow bad goals, or other deflating goals? Or does he provide steady goaltending with occasional elite-level saves?



This is a rebuild. There are still some fans that expect the Flames to finish somewhere close to the playoffs somehow, so if Wolf does what I expect him to do (sub .900SV%, I expect closer to .855), then perhaps some people will point the finger at Wolf (and/or Vladar) as the reason the Flames missed. However, most people are going to just watch the games, and then base their opinions on what they actually see instead of just counting stats.


Flames are built for 3-1 losses, not 10-1 losses, so that will probably help Wolf's (and Vladar's) numbers, but I would be shocked if they were even close to .900 this season. This is a team that has to work hard every night to keep it close, and they will have bad games in which turnovers at the worst time happen, and this is not a tight defence to begin with at the best of times. I actually expect that we will see an improved Wolf and Vladar (once Vladar adjusts after his surgery).


There will always be a few loud contrarian voices no matter what, and that's fine. I do think that most people will just evaluate Wolf on what they see, not just on his (ugly) stat-line this season.

I doubt anyone looking at the Flames roster are going to specifically blame goaltending for a weak record. Especially after looking at the D corp. Yikes.

[mjk123]

What he is worth at this point, just seems cheap because of all the chatter about him eventually being our guy. Still an AHL goalie about to make NHL.

[dobbles]

Originally Posted by Bingo

Man if I had a dollar for every post with a fan worrying about Wolf's feelings ....

I don't see it as much as worrying about his feelings but doing right by the player and earning that goodwill in future contract negotiations. The Flames have tons of cap space and could have gave him a boost as a show of faith. And even on the earned/given scale, I think Wolf has done plenty to earn it. While his NHL numbers weren't great last year, he has earned every step of the way and also deserves a lot of credit for being stuck in the minors way too long.

From my point of view, someone that has been widely considered one of the best goalie prospects in the entire league, why not spoil him a little? Why make the 1st year a 2 way when he isn't even waiver exempt? Why not throw a couple hundred K extra in there to sweeten it? Show your organizations best prospect you value him.

[Fire]

Originally Posted by dobbles

I don't see it as much as worrying about his feelings but doing right by the player and earning that goodwill in future contract negotiations. The Flames have tons of cap space and could have gave him a boost as a show of faith. And even on the earned/given scale, I think Wolf has done plenty to earn it. While his NHL numbers weren't great last year, he has earned every step of the way and also deserves a lot of credit for being stuck in the minors way too long.

From my point of view, someone that has been widely considered one of the best goalie prospects in the entire league, why not spoil him a little? Why make the 1st year a 2 way when he isn't even waiver exempt? Why not throw a couple hundred K extra in there to sweeten it? Show your organizations best prospect you value him.

I agree with most of what you said but Wolf is waiver exempt for one more season, because he's a goalie.

[dobbles]

Originally Posted by Fire

I agree with most of what you said but Wolf is waiver exempt for one more season, because he's a goalie.

My bad, I thought it ran out this year.

[Housley4Prez]

Originally Posted by mogg

Cooley is also on a two-way next year. Waivers aren’t a concern.

I agree though- one way or another Wolf will get plenty of starts.

If Wolfy can start 30 or more games, that will be great. Any more than that would be a sign of good times ahead. If Cooley outperforms Vladar, then let him soak up the bulk of the other starts. If we can't get anything for Vladar on the market, there's no use in him burning through starts here either.

[Jay Random]

Originally Posted by mogg

Hadn’t realized that waivers and contract type had been decoupled in 2020. Whoops. I found this breakdown really helpful:

https://beyondtheglasshockey.com/202...breakdown.html

Waivers and contract status were never coupled to begin with.

Any player can be offered a two-way contract. Every player, if he lasts long enough, will eventually become eligible for waivers. A player coming into the league must sign a two-way ELC, and is also exempt from waivers, but the rules for those two things are separate.

[Textcritic]

Originally Posted by dobbles

I don't see it as much as worrying about his feelings but doing right by the player and earning that goodwill in future contract negotiations. The Flames have tons of cap space and could have gave him a boost as a show of faith.

Which, they did. Wolf got a raise on his base salary, and a massive increase on his AHL salary. Whether he is on the Flames bench or the Wranglers, Wolf is guaranteed to earn exponentially more over the next two years than he ever has.

And even on the earned/given scale, I think Wolf has done plenty to earn it. While his NHL numbers weren't great last year, he has earned every step of the way and also deserves a lot of credit for being stuck in the minors way too long.

I just don't see an argument to be made that Wolf has earned anything more than this. He is just in the process of breaking into the NHL, and has by no means earned a permanent roster spot yet. He had some really great flashes last year, but also showed that he has a long way to go to even establish himself as a full-time NHLer. I don't think he has spent too much time in the minors—as dominant as he has been in the AHL, there have been slippages there, too. But, that's totally fine, because he is still super young, with miles if runway to figure it out.

From my point of view, someone that has been widely considered one of the best goalie prospects in the entire league, why not spoil him a little? Why make the 1st year a 2 way when he isn't even waiver exempt? Why not throw a couple hundred K extra in there to sweeten it? Show your organizations best prospect you value him.

Um, that's exactly what they did do. Instead of the $70K Wolf earned most of last year, he is guaranteed to take home at least FOUR TIMES that much, if not A LOT more.

People need to relax. Wolf is still a work in progress, and it is probably going to take another two or three seasons before he starts to resemble a NHL starting goalie. There is no reason to rush him into that position, and no reason to pay him for more than he is today—a really interesting, promising prospect.

Sent from my SM-G986W using Tapatalk

[jonesy]

Originally Posted by Textcritic

Which, they did. Wolf got a raise on his base salary, and a massive increase on his AHL salary. Whether he is on the Flames bench or the Wranglers, Wolf is guaranteed to earn exponentially more over the next two years than he ever has.


I just don't see an argument to be made that Wolf has earned anything more than this. He is just in the process of breaking into the NHL, and has by no means earned a permanent roster spot yet. He had some really great flashes last year, but also showed that he has a long way to go to even establish himself as a full-time NHLer. I don't think he has spent too much time in the minors—as dominant as he has been in the AHL, there have been slippages there, too. But, that's totally fine, because he is still super young, with miles if runway to figure it out.




Um, that's exactly what they did do. Instead of the $70K Wolf earned most of last year, he is guaranteed to take home at least FOUR TIMES that much, if not A LOT more.

People need to relax. Wolf is still a work in progress, and it is probably going to take another two or three seasons before he starts to resemble a NHL starting goalie. There is no reason to rush him into that position, and no reason to pay him for more than he is today—a really interesting, promising prospect.

Sent from my SM-G986W using Tapatalk

Possibly an order of magnitude more, certainly not exponentially more

[Freeway]

The deals you hand out to Dustin Wolf (and others) will be used as precedents for future deals coming out of ELCs. There's no good reason to end up negotiating against yourself.

[Goriders]

Originally Posted by mjk123

What he is worth at this point, just seems cheap because of all the chatter about him eventually being our guy. Still an AHL goalie about to make NHL.

.893 save % and 3.16 GAA so far is what he is. Until that improves he’s probably getting paid what he’s worth.

[TheIronMaiden]

The Flames need to do everything in their power to protect wolf, a part of that is setting expectations for players performance vs their contract.

If wolf gets 3 mill for 3 years and ####s the bed for the his first three starts people will start being ugly.

I am not saying this is central to the contract he signed, but at least people won't be tripping over themselves to point out his contract sucks if things are rocky to start.