Devin Cooley Returns to the Flames Crease to Save Your Fantasy Week
Devin Cooley is officially off injured reserve, means the can finally stop holding their breath every time a puck enters their defensive zone.
The 29-year-old goaltender missed the last week and a half with a lower-body injury, interrupting what was easily his best stretch of hockey. Before his legs betrayed him, Cooley was riding a four-game winning streak and looking completely dialed in.
Through seven games this season, he has posted a 2.69 goals-against average and a .914 save percentage. For context, posting a .914 in today’s NHL is like finding a reasonably priced beer at a stadium—it feels like a glitch in the matrix, but you absolutely take it.
For anyone tracking the daily goalie markets or trying to salvage a fantasy matchup, Cooley’s activation is the exact kind of news you want to see. You obviously have to sweat out the first period to make sure a guy fresh off a lower-body injury can still push post-to-post, but the upside is baked right into his recent game logs.
The Flames desperately need that stabilizing force back in the crease. You can only survive so long relying on backup plans before the standings start to swallow your season whole.
We will see how quickly Cooley shakes off the rust in his next start. If he immediately picks up where that four-game winning streak left off, might just have the exact anchor they need to make a serious run.