As part of the NHL’s annual free agent frenzy, longtime Calgary Flames backup goaltender Dan Vladar signed a two-year, $6.7 million contract with the Philadelphia Flyers. Vladar’s departure is no surprise, especially given that over the 2024-25 season, he firmly lost any hope of a starting job to young star Dustin Wolf, but his absence in the Flames’ net — or on its bench — leaves questions about his potential successor at backup goaltender.
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Also as part of the free agent frenzy, Calgary signed a goaltender: Ivan Prosvetov, a Russian who most recently played for CSKA Moscow of the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL). Prosvetov had only just returned to Russia for the 2024-25 season, having played in North America since 2016, with stints for the Colorado Avalanche and Arizona Coyotes (and, primarily, with their American Hockey League affiliates). Prosvetov posted a 2.32 goals-against average (GAA) and a .920 save percentage (SV%) in Moscow.
Prosvetov is, however, not the only non-Wolf goalie in the system — the Flames also have Devin Cooley under contract. Cooley was signed to his contract during the opening day of last year’s free agency, and played as the Wranglers’ starting goalie (Flames’ AHL affiliate) for most of his time in Calgary so far. Both goaltenders have very little NHL experience — fewer games played combined than Wolf — and neither have great results. Unless Flames general manager (GM) Craig Conroy finds a better option via trade or free agency, though, one of them will have to start 20 games a season.
Vladar, for all his faults, was a serviceable backup goaltender on a series of reasonable contracts; of his four seasons with the Flames, he posted above a .900 SV% exactly once (during their stellar 2021-22 season) but only started 30 games once (last season). He saw the team through contention and turmoil, and at the time of his departure was the fourth longest-tenured Flame, after Blake Coleman, Rasmus Andersson, and Mikael Backlund.
Devin Cooley Is Familiar With the Flames’ Systems
Cooley enters the 2025-26 season as the likely choice for the Flames’ backup spot. While both goaltenders are signed to one-way NHL contracts, Cooley seems like the first choice to take the backup spot for one reason — familiarity. As a Wrangler, Cooley started a league-leading 46 games, ending up with a win-loss record of 21-17-5. He had a GAA of 2.94 and a SV% of .905, both quite middle-of-the-road statistically.
In the NHL, he has a total of six games of experience, all during the 2023-24 season with the San Jose Sharks. His numbers during that stretch were much less impressive — a GAA of 4.98, for one — but it’s also important to note that the 2023-24 Sharks finished 32nd in the league, bad enough to earn themselves the first overall pick in the 2024 NHL Draft. Cooley may not have had a great six games, but it’s not a stretch to assume that he would appear much better on a scoresheet with a more viable defence in front of him.
Ivan Prosvetov Is Still Young Enough to Become a Player
Prosvetov fares similarly statistically, although he has marginally more experience than Cooley does. He played the 2024-25 season in Russia, but before that split the 2023-24 season between the Avalanche and their AHL affiliate, the Colorado Eagles; he only played 21 games for the Eagles, but finished with a mark that left him tied for fifth in the AHL in SV% at .921.
On paper, he seems like a better goaltender than Cooley. He’s also a couple years younger, which could be a factor in a choice to play one over the other — goaltenders peak much later than forwards or defencemen do. Cooley is 28 and Prosvetov is 26; the difference between being in your prime and still potentially having room to grow suggests a higher upside for Prosvetov in case Wolf is injured or stagnates and the backup has to play a few games.
Plenty of goaltenders don’t become full-time NHL-calibre players until their mid or even late 20s. The Toronto Maple Leafs’ Anthony Stolarz didn’t play more than 20 games in an NHL season until he was 28. Even Vezina Trophy winner Igor Shesterkin didn’t do it until he was 25. The Flames believe that Prosvetov can become that type of player (from “Meet goaltender Ivan Prosvetov, the Calgary Flames’ new backup plan,” Calgary Herald, July 2, 2025). In the meantime, Wolf — himself a young goalie at 24 — is already a starter, and for 60-odd games a season, the Flames won’t have a question mark in net.
It might be a stretch to assume that because a few goaltenders develop into NHL-calibre players later on in their careers, the Flames will get that from Prosvetov. It is a stretch. But it’s also not what the Flames signed either goaltender to do; there’s no assumption that one of them will have to pan out, so they’re both competing for the sole available NHL role rather than a starter position and have more to lose.
While neither player has particularly encouraging stats at the NHL level, neither of them has any real experience, either. Both players — especially Cooley, given his quality of teammates — are victims of small sample sizes. Six games started on one of the worst teams in recent memory is worth a mulligan. This season’s Flames may not be shutdown masters, but barring catastrophe, they’re certain to be better defensively than the 2023-24 Sharks. Unless Conroy plans on making a move for another, more proven goaltender before the offseason is over, this pair will have their competition cut out for them for that No. 2 spot.
