by Cayden Primeau’s story is a good one. Former Philadelphia Flyers GM Ron Hextall traded the 199th overall pick to the Montreal Canadiens for a 2018 seventh-round pick. It was a good story because Primeau grew up around the Flyers and watched his father, Keith, for many years.
I followed the goalkeeper’s career. During my time at Northeastern, I saw him courageously win the Beanpot twice, and in 2019 he won the MVP Award. He was injured once in the game and stayed out of the game. In 2019, Primeau won the Mike Richter Award as college hockey’s top goaltender of the year and was the MVP of the Hockey East Tournament. He started his AHL career with some credentials.
Related: The Curious Case of the Canadiens by Cayden Primeau
I felt like his time in Laval was good but not great. He played 123 games there and was up and down with Montreal, so there was no development problem.
He looked his best last season with a .910 save percentage in 23 games. Still, I always felt like he was an NHL backup at best. I never saw 1B potential in him and now it looks like Martin St. Louis will miss his next start. A savings ratio of 0.836 is sufficient.
Are the expectations higher than I expect from Primeau? Sometimes a reset is appropriate. Contact the goalkeeping coach and see what’s going on. I’m not a goalkeeping expert, so I can’t say for sure.
According to PuckPedia, he is an RFA for another season next year. This year could be a crucial one in Montreal.
