Dustin Wolf

Dustin Wolf (born April 16, 2001) is an American professional ice hockey goaltender currently playing for the Calgary Wranglers in the American Hockey League (AHL) as a prospect to the Calgary Flames of the National Hockey League (NHL).

Wolf was born on April 16, 2001, in Gilroy, California, as the only child to parents Mike and Michelle Wolf.

His father Mike worked as a software engineer and his mother Michelle worked as a veterinarian in nearby Morgan Hill, California.

Wolf's parents were season-ticket holders for the San Jose Sharks, and he attended their games as an infant.

He first began to skate when he was a toddler, and began focusing on goaltending around age 5.

In 2011, Wolf's family moved to Hermosa Beach in Southern California after being persuaded by his agent, and he began to play for the Los Angeles Junior Kings.

In 2014 Wolf relocated again to nearby Tustin, California.

Wolf spent seven years with the Junior Kings, including competing in the 2014 Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament, where he played against future top CHL prospects Samuel Poulin and Xavier Parent.

During his WHL bantam-draft year, Wolf posted a 2.99 goals against average (GAA) and .905 save percentage (SV%) through seven games with the Junior Kings' bantam AAA team.

The following season saw significant improvement, with Wolf posting a 1.63 GAA and .941 SV% while playing for the Junior Kings U16 team.

Former coaches and LA Kings personnel spoke highly of Wolf's time with the Junior Kings, calling him one of the best goalies in his class, and speaking on his ability to elevate his team respectively.

"In my opinion he’s one of the top '01 goalies in the country. He’s dedicated himself to getting better and it shows – continuously putting a lot of time and energy into working on his skills. We’ve admired his attitude, demeanor, and composure – no matter the situation, he’s been dialed in. It’s left us with no surprise that he’s earned this opportunity."

"Once we started realized how talented this kid was, we all got better...we’d go to Vancouver and we’d upset these superstar teams. Dustin would have a ton of shots, our defense would play great, and the score was always 2-1 or 3-2. Every time."

Selected 104th overall, in the 5th round of the 2016 WHL Bantam Draft, Wolf began his junior career with the Everett Silvertips of the Western Hockey League (WHL) during the 2017-18 season, serving as the backup goaltender behind the Philadelphia Flyers' then-prospect Carter Hart.

Wolf's WHL debut came on October 27, 2017, making 38 stops and recording an assist in a 3–1 win over the Kamloops Blazers.

Wolf had a successful initial season, winning 13 of his 20 games with a .928 save percentage, the highest among any rookie with at least 10 games played.

On April 13, 2018, during game five against the Portland Winterhawks in the Conference Semi-finals of the 2018 WHL playoffs, Hart left the game for an undisclosed reason midway through the second period.

Coming in for relief, Wolf made his postseason debut, stopping all 4 shots he faced during 9:22 of ice time before Hart's return at the start of the third period in the 4–0, series-clinching win.

With Hart graduating from the WHL into the Flyers' professional ranks before the 2018–19 WHL season, Wolf became the Silvertips' starter, tripling his amount of games from the previous season.

Wolf's numbers improved under his increased workload, posting the highest save percentage and goals against average of any goaltender in the Canadian Hockey League with at least 15 games played, with a .936 SV% and 1.69 GAA respectively, amassing a 41–15–2 record in the process.

He was selected in the seventh round of the 2019 NHL Entry Draft, 214th overall, by the Flames.

Wolf is noted for his small stature.

Weighing 175 pounds and standing six feet tall, he is considered significantly undersized for a goaltender.

Despite this, Wolf has been highly successful thus far, being named goaltender of the year in his respective league for four consecutive seasons.

In his major junior career, Wolf played for the Everett Silvertips in the Western Hockey League (WHL), initially as the backup to Carter Hart before claiming the starting position the following season.

Wolf would play for four seasons with the Silvertips, posting statistics at or near the top of the league in almost every category, and being named the league's goaltender of the year for two consecutive seasons.

As a professional player, Wolf has spent time with the Calgary Flames AHL affiliate, the Stockton Heat, and remained with the team through their relocation to become the Calgary Wranglers.

Recently, Wolf has been moving frequently between the Wranglers and the Flames themselves, making starts for both teams.

Wolf has played professionally over four seasons so far, three of them full-time.

Wolf was named the AHL goaltender of the year in both of his full-time seasons in the league, posted league-leading statistics, and is currently considered one of the top NHL goaltending prospects, with The Hockey Writers ranking him as the number one prospect.

Wolf would make his first postseason start on March 22, 2019, during the 2019 WHL playoffs in the Silvertips first round matchup against the Tri-City Americans, stopping 21 of 22 shots and recording his first playoff win.

On March 28, 2019, Wolf would record his first WHL playoff shutout, saving all 24 shots faced in game 4 of their first round matchup.

Wolf would start every game for the Silvertips in the 2019 playoffs, earning a 5–4–1 record, a 2.02 GAA, and a .914 SV%, with the Silvertips losing their second round matchup against the Spokane Chiefs.

After being named the WHL Western Conference Goaltender of the Year, Wolf would narrowly lose both the Del Wilson Trophy for the top goaltender in the WHL, and the CHL Goaltender of the Year award to Ian Scott of the Prince Albert Raiders.

Wolf lead Scott in every category except one: shutouts, with Wolf's seven falling one short of Scott.

At the conclusion of the season, Wolf be awarded the Daryl K. (Doc) Seaman Trophy as the WHL's scholastic player of the year, as well as being named the CHL Scholastic Player of the Year, for his on ice performance in combination with maintaining a 100% average in his grade 12 classes.

Wolf would also be named to the first All-Star team for the WHL's Western Conference.

Ranked 12th by the league's Central Scouting Bureau among North American goaltenders eligible for the 2019 NHL Entry Draft, Wolf became the 22nd and final goaltender taken when the Calgary Flames selected him in the seventh round, 214th overall.

Before the draft, most analysts expected Wolf to be drafted in the middle of the draft, potentially even as high as the second round.

Wolf's slide all the way to the final round of the draft was seen as due to his significantly smaller than average stature for modern NHL goaltenders.