The Montreal Canadiens are battling through a lost season, and though there have been some reasons for optimism under new head coach Martin St. Louis, it doesn’t change the fact this team is not making the playoffs.
One of the reasons for the tumble to the bottom of the standings is injuries, and nowhere has that been more impactful than in goal.
The Habs tandem of Carey Price and Jake Allen was terrific last season and having a competent backup like Allen should have kept Price fresh for a full 82 game season.
However, Price has played a single game this season as he battles back from injuries and personal issues. Allen filled in admirably for a while, but the team’s defensive structure was awful for the first half of the season, leaving Allen out to be taken advantage of by opposing offences on many occasions.
Now, Allen is out as well and the Canadiens were forced to pick up Samuel Montembeault off waivers early in the season, and then add Andrew Hammond via trade later to fill the gaping void in goal.
Between those two acquisitions, Cayden Primeau was given a brief audition, but that porous defensive scheme left him with some ugly statistical evenings. The Habs eventually picked up a veteran in Hammond so that Primeau could be sent back down to the AHL and play a lot of minutes for the Laval Rocket.
Primeau was able to do that, posting solid numbers in a wild five-games-in-seven-days stretch, but then Hammond was injured and Primeau was called up once again.
Getting called upon by an NHL team is every hockey player’s dream, but the timing is just awful for Primeau. What the 22 year old really needs is a lengthy stint in the AHL to regain his confidence. He really does not need to be rotating starts and relieving Montembeault halfway through games like he was doing in February.
After some schedule reshuffling, the Rocket are in the middle of a very busy time on their calendar. Primeau started on March 2nd before being recalled by the Canadiens after Hammond was injured in a victory over the Calgary Flames.
The Rocket now play a series of 13 games in 27 days to close out the month of March. That would have been an excellent time for Primeau to about ten games in less than four weeks to really build up his game and confidence before the end of the season.
However, with Hammond joining Price and Allen on the injured list, the Canadiens are forced to have Primeau, who is really the 5th goaltender on their depth chart, in the NHL and sitting on the bench tonight as the Edmonton Oilers try to solve Montembeault.
What Primeau needs is to play frequently and develop as a professional goaltender. The chance to develop at the NHL level was not offered to him when the defence in front of him left him out to dry every night. The chance to develop at the AHL level does not currently exist because the organization needs someone to suit up at the NHL level.
Hopefully Hammond’s injury is not a long term one, because not only would it be good to have Hammond back in the NHL lineup, but it would allow Primeau to continue to develop his game at the AHL level with the Laval Rocket.
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