Los Angeles, Calif.- Hockey is going Hollywood for the 2025 NHL Draft in Los Angeles, Calif.
The bustle and bright lights of the entertainment capital are casting a glamorous glow on the NHL stars of tomorrow, current players and celebrities descending on the Peacock Theater for this weekend’s event.
But the Golden State isn’t just putting out movies, music- and Stanley Cup-winning teams.
More and more of the hottest players on ice are coming out of California.
Look no further than Dustin Wolf, the Bay Area-born, Tustin-raised goaltender who has gone from a WHL superstar to a beloved underdog, and now, one of the NHL’s shining rookies.
Wolf played minor hockey for the Los Angeles Jr. Kings before being drafted to the Everett Silvertips in the fifth round (104th overall) of the 2016 WHL Prospects Draft.
He arrived in the Pacific Northwest as a bright-eyed backup, but the 6-foot, 168-pound puckstopper stood tall in the crease as he jumped from 20 games played in his rookie season to a whopping 61 appearances in 2018-19.
His breakout campaign saw him go 41-15-2-2 with a 1.69 goals-against average, a .936 save percentage and seven shutouts.
What’s more, he also captured the Daryl K. (Doc) Seaman Memorial Trophy as the WHL’s Scholastic Player of the Year and even nabbed CHL Scholastic Player of the Year honours.
While the COVID-19 pandemic shortened the rest of Wolf’s regular season WHL career, he was among the class of the league in nearly every category.
Wolf snagged back-to-back Del Wilson Memorial Trophies in 2020 and 2021 as the WHL Goaltender of the Year and CHL Goaltender of the Year for 2020.
He closed out his four-season career with the Silvertips with an astonishing 106-34-4-2 record, a 1.84 GAA, a .935 save percentage and 24 shutouts.
Wolf’s 24 clean sheets are the second-most by any goaltender in WHL history while playing drastically fewer games than the two netminders ahead of him with 26 shutouts, while also ranking second in best career GAA.
“It was fantastic,” Wolf told WHL.ca in 2024. “As you gain more experience in the league, you could become more accustomed to the players and the teams and the environments. We had some pretty tremendous teams in Everett. Unfortunately, we weren’t able to win a championship there, but each and every day I learned something new and I certainly wouldn’t be in the position I am without the staff there and that environment.”
Despite the glowing report card, Wolf didn’t hear his name called at the 2019 NHL Draft until the Calgary Flames took a flier with the fourth-last pick in the seventh and final round.
It’s looked like a steal so far for the Flames, with Wolf dominating at the American Hockey League level as a two-time Top Goaltender and one-time league MVP.
Wolf made his professional debut with the Stockton Heat inside the AHL bubble in the 2020-21 season before the team returned to California, just over 100 miles away from where Wolf spent his formative years in Gilroy.
One home turf, Wolf backstopped the Heat with a 33-9-5 run to finish first in the AHL’s Pacific Division in what would be the team’s final run in California.
They’d move to Calgary, Alta. the following season and rebranded as the Wranglers, though Wolf’s AHL days were numbered with the big club knocking on the door.
In 2024-25, Wolf nearly dragged the Flames to the NHL Playoffs (the team ended up missing out due to a tiebreaker scenario) in his first full season as a starter, posting a 29-16-8 record, a 2.64 GAA, a .910 save percentage and three shutouts.
Wolf was one win away from tying fellow WHL alum Mike Vernon’s Flames rookie record of 30 victories.
The 24-year-old was named a league finalist for the Calder Trophy, which recognizes the NHL’s Rookie of the Year.
While he finished second in Calder Trophy voting, the finish still marks the highest result for a Flames rookie since Kamloops Blazers great and Hockey Hall-of-Famer Jarome Iginla in 1996-97.
With an increasing number of players from the Western United States (particularly Colorado, Arizona and California) making their way into the Western Hockey League, the next Dustin Wolf could be on the way.
And as the Silvertips great continues to work his way up the hockey ranks, he’s already proved that some of the greatest work ethic and talent may not come from a traditional hockey market- and that where a player is drafted doesn’t determine how far they can go.
