Montreal Canadiens goaltenders Jake Allen and Sam Montembeault have provided the team with pretty steady netminding so far this season. It is a big part of the reason the team is performing better than expected.
Injuries to these goalies last season lead to a number of recalls and replacements, and it sort of stunted the year of development for Cayden Primeau. He constantly got called up to fill the void, though he didn’t look NHL ready when given an opportunity to play.
Primeau would have been better served by staying in the AHL all season and playing a ton of games for the Laval Rocket. That is what he has been doing so far this season, but unfortunately he suffered an injury in the Rocket’s most recent game.
The odd thing is, Primeau was not playing in that game. He suffered the injury when he was struck by a stick while sitting on the bench. For a goalie who has dealt with a lot of road blocks in his AHL career, like Covid shutdowns when he was getting on a roll, odd call ups to sit on the NHL bench when Carey Price or Jake Allen were hurt, or a time stuck on the taxi squad, this is just another in a long line of setbacks.
Hopefully, Primeau will not miss a lot of time but apparently he suffered a deep cut that required five stitches to sew up. That is going to take a bit of time to heal for sure.
Also, the Rocket announced yesterday that they have called up Joe Vrbetic from the Trois-Rivieres Lions. That would suggest Primeau will not be available for their next game which takes place tomorrow night in Utica against the Comets.
The Rocket don’t play again after that until Saturday. Hopefully Primeau’s injury is not long term as the 22 year old goaltender is in a key development season to hopefully prepare for an NHL future.
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