Since 2013, the Calgary Flames have used 12 different goaltenders that they’ve acquired from outside of their developmental system. The big reason for that is, to be blunt, they’ve been really horrible at drafting and developing goaltenders since basically forever.
Dustin Wolf is absolutely killing it in the Western Hockey League. He may finally break a decades-long dry spell for drafted netminders. Here’s a brief snapshot – broken down by general manager – of the Flames’ struggles finding puck-stoppers in the NHL Draft.
The Cliff Fletcher years (in Atlanta)
| Draft | Goalie | Round | Pick | Flames GP | NHL GP |
| 1972 | Frank Blum | 6 | 82 | 0 | 0 |
| 1974 | Bill Moen | 6 | 100 | 0 | 0 |
| 1975 | Nick Sanza | 9 | 150 | 0 | 0 |
| 1976 | Mark Earp | 5 | 82 | 0 | 0 |
| 1977 | Jim Craig | 4 | 72 | 4 | 30 |
| 1978 | Tim Bernhardt | 3 | 47 | 6 | 67 |
| 1978 | Bernhard Englbrecht | 12 | 196 | 0 | 0 |
| 1979 | Pat Riggin | 2 | 33 | 119 | 350 |
The Atlanta years featured a skew towards late picks and very few successes – except for the fabulously-named Bernhard Englbrecht.