Montreal Canadiens: A check-up on netminder Cayden Primeau

The Montreal Canadiens have stock invested in young netminder Cayden Primeau, a 2017 seventh-rounder. He is expected to be a future option for the Habs in the blue paint but has yet to really crack the NHL level for an extended period of time.

For the Montreal Canadiens, they re-signed the 23-year-old Michigan native this summer, giving him a three-year contract worth $2.67 million. It carries an $890,000  annual value and offers the Habs an opportunity to keep developing the young netminder.

A check-up on Montreal Canadiens prospect goalie Cayden Primeau.

It’s still early in the 2022-23 season, and Cayden Primeau has been the number-one option at the AHL level. He’s been the workhorse for Laval Rocket, and it’s time to check in and see how Primeau is doing.

At the time of writing, Primeau has logged nine games played for Laval, where he has played to a 3-4-2 record. It may not be the most exciting, but Primeau has time to even out the statistics. He has one shutout as a part of his three wins.

Primeau has managed a 3.02 goals-against average, and a .906 save percentage for Laval to this point in the season. There will be plenty of room to improve, but he should be able to get the job done over time.

But, with this check-up… there’s got to be hope that he can start doing better. Primeau did get into 12 games in a Habs uniform last season, nine of them being starts. He was an abysmal 1-7-1 with a .868 save percentage and 4.62 goals against average.

All-in-all, the Habs’ young netminder has played in 18 NHL games with the Habs, 15 being starts. The results are not super pretty. Primeau is a career 3-10-2 at the NHL level with a .874 save percentage and a 4.21 goals-against average.

Not the best start to his NHL career, and in 2022-23 things are not quite going his way either. Primeau is leaving plenty to be desired. But after signing a cheap contract extension, the Habs are hoping he can continue to progress and develop into the player the Habs expect him to be.

The expectation is that Primeau will still be the future of the Habs’ goaltending core. Jake Allen is still around after he signed an extension this offseason, so Primeau has time. However, Primeau needs to get it together.

It’s a long season, so Primeau has time to get things together. The hope is that Primeau will get things under control, but his start to the 2022-23 season has not been the best.