Montreal Canadiens Top Prospects Countdown: #3 Cayden Primeau

Montreal Canadiens general manager has compiled a long list of prospects. We are counting down the top 30.

Montreal Canadiens general manager Marc Bergevin has focused on the draft for the past three years to build up his prospect pool. He loaded up on picks for the past three years and has another boatload of selections to make next year.

This has led to the Canadiens having a great group of prospects. With the offseason well underway and next season still more of a question mark than anything else, we are digging deep into the future of the franchise.

So, we have been counting down the Canadiens Top 30 prospects.

This list so far looks like this: 30th Jack Gorniak, 29th Jacob LeGuerrier, 28th Otto Leskinen, 27th Rafael Harvey-Pinard, 26th Jack Smith, 25th Jacob Olofsson, 24th Lukas Vejdemo, 23rd Alexander Gordin, 22nd Blake Biondi, 21st Rhett Pitlick, 20th Joni Ikonen, 19th Brett Stapley, 18th Joel Teasdale, 17th Gianni Fairbrother, 16th Cam Hillis, 15th Luke Tuch, 14th Josh Brook, 13th Jan Mysak, 12th Sean Farrell, 11th Cale Fleury, 10th Noah Juulsen, 9th Jayden Struble, 8th Jesse Ylonen, 7th Jordan Harris, 6th Ryan Poehling, 5th Kaiden Guhle and 4th Mattias Norlinder.

That brings us to the top three. At third on the list of Habs best prospects we have Cayden Primeau. There wasn’t much disagreement in that ranking as myself and Scott Cowan had Primeau ranked third and Teddy Elliott and Sebastian High had Primeau in fourth place on each of their lists.

Late in the 2017 NHL Draft, the Habs looked to be done for the day. Then, at the last minute Bergevin swapped a 2018 7th round pick for the 199th overall pick in the 2017 draft. He used that pick to take Primeau.

Primeau had the size of a goaltender at 6’3″ and just under 200 pounds. However, he didn’t appear to have great numbers. He had played 30 games in the USHL the previous season and had a 3.16 goals against average and a .895 save percentage. Those aren’t the best numbers you’ll see from a goaltender at the NHL Draft.

That all changed the following season. The Voorhees, New Jersey native went to college at Northeastern and was exceptional immediately for the Huskies.

In his freshman season, Primeau posted a 1.92 GAA and a .931 SV% in 34 games in his first year of college hockey. His second season saw him post a 2.09 GAA and a .933 SV% in 36 contests. He had four shutouts each season and a record of 44-18-6 in his collegiate career.

His first season with the Huskies saw him earn Top Goaltender of the Hockey East Conference award. He was also named to the conference All-Rookie team and First All-Star Team. He garnered even more attention in his sophomore season, winning the Mike Richter Award as the best goaltender in college hockey.

Primeau also suited up for the United States at the World Juniors that season. He put up a 4-1-0 record, losing in the gold medal game and finishing with a 1.61 GAA and a .936 SV%.

After two fantastic seasons with the Northeastern Huskies and a great World Juniors, Primeau signed his entry-level contract with the Canadiens.

The 2019-20 season was his first as a pro. He had some ups and downs early on with the Laval Rocket, but once he was given the number one role, he really took off. Unfortunately the league shutdown operations just as Primeau was hitting his stride.

He started the year with a 5-2 record and a .943 save percentage in the AHL, but then struggled a bit. He allowed five goals in five of his next seven starts. He then started to balance out but was still fighting with Charlie Lindgren and then Keith Kinkaid for starts. By the middle of February, Lindgren was in the NHL and Kinkaid was loaned out to the Charlotte Checkers.

Primeau then went on a great run. Over his last eight starts, he had a 1.63 GAA and a .938 SV%. He won five of his last six starts and was carrying the Rocket back into the playoff picture in the North Division. Then, the league canceled the rest of the season and Primeau hasn’t played since.

If the 21 year old can pick up where he left off, he should have a tremendous season for the Laval Rocket in 2020-21. With Jake Allen signed for three seasons, there is no rush to bring Primeau up to the next level, but if he continues his current trajectory, he might force the Habs hand before the end of the 2022-23 season.