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In Hainsight: Decision Looming on Primeau |
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Follow me @KarineHains for all updates about the Montreal Canadiens and women's hockey
Back in 2017, Cayden Primeau was picked 199th overall by the Canadiens at the entry draft. At the time, he was thought to be little more than a 7th round long shot, but then he had two brilliant seasons at Northeastern university raising both his profile and expectations. His rookie season with the Laval Rocket was cut short by the Covid pandemic and then, the injuries to Habs’ goaltenders meant that he was often called-up, but to fill the role of back-up more often than not.
Since then, he’s been trying to find both his footing and rhythm with limited success. He’s now about to enter the 2nd season of his 3-year pact, and this coming season, he’ll be waiver eligible meaning it’s now time for the Canadiens to decide what to do with him. As things stand, Primeau has taken part in 21 NHL games and has a 3-12-2 with a 4.11 GAA and a 0.871 save percentage.
At the end of the next training camp, unless he manages to win one of the goaltending jobs with the Canadiens, Primeau will have to go through waivers to be returned to the Laval Rocket which means that the Canadiens will have to chose between a few options. It would be rather surprising if he managed to displace either Allen or Montembeault.
Some will argue that the Canadiens could try to move Jake Allen and keep Primeau up, but to put it bluntly, that would mean the Habs are not looking to battle for playoffs spot this upcoming season which would be contrary to what Kent Hughes said at his end of season presser.
So, if Primeau is the odd man out after camp, the Canadiens could either: try to trade him to avoid losing in on waivers, keep three goaltenders on roster or send him down at the risk of losing him for nothing. Of the three options, the one I would avoid at all costs would be to keep 3 goaltenders up. To develop, a goalie needs to see a lot of rubber and spend a lot of time on the ice, keeping him up to have him serve as 3rd goalie would not only be counter productive for him, but also for the rest of the team. The Habs have got plenty of young skaters that should be seeing some ice-time in the NHL rather than being sent down to the AHL.
For me, there are only two real options trying to trade him or waive him. To be honest, I’m not all that worried that a team could poach him on waivers, but you never know when a team will suddenly find itself in need of a goaltender because their regular masked man has suffered an injury, that’s exactly how Samuel Montembeault ended up with the Canadiens.
As the saying goes though, better be safe than sorry and I believe that in the circumstances, Kent Hughes will be trying to trade Primeau to at least receive an asset in return. I’m not expecting a big return on that deal if it happens, but it would be better than losing him for nothing. An opinion which Habs fans appear to share if my homemade Twitter poll is to be believed.
Montreal Canadiens Blogger • 
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