Cayden Primeau Named March Recipient Of Molson Cup

Cayden Primeau has found some confidence since the Montreal Canadiens abolished the three goaltender carousel.

In five starts through the month of March, Primeau has looked like a changed goalie; more poised and positionally aware. Seldom is he fighting the puck and struggling with rebounds; now limiting the opposition to just one chance. He has been strong between the pipes, standing at the top of his crease limiting angles for shooters to pick their spot.

Against the Seattle Kraken, while the Habs dominated from start to finish, Primeau stood tall when the Kraken tried to claw back in. Laterally has was efficient, taking away time and space for shots along the ice. So, naturally the Kraken tried to catch him moving, but he came up big with a save-of-the-year candidate against forward Andre Burakovsky.

Samuel Montembeault has certainly claimed the crease as his own for this season, but Primeau could give him a great battle next year. Since Carey Price's injury troubles forced him into unofficial retirement, the goaltending position hasn't been as iron clad as it once was. But Primeau seems to be finding his footing and Montembeault has been the backbone of the rebuilding Habs, for better of for worse, over the last three seasons.

Against the Philadelphia Flyers, Primeau frustrated Bobby Brink, Joel Farabee and Cam York with a flurry of saves. It wasn't a great look for the Canadiens defence, who relied on their goaltender to keep the puck out. A steak was definitely owed to him after his performance.

Intelligently, Kent Hughes and Jeff Gorton have continued adding insurance pieces through the draft, to shore up the goaltending position. Jacob Fowler is one example, who looks to be well on his way to throwing his name in the hat for the future between the pipes in Montreal. Down in the American Hockey League, Jakub Dobes, who struggled early in his rookie pro season, has found his footing and wrestled the starting role away from veteran Kasimir Kaskisuo.

At 24 years old, Primeau has played the most games with the big club of his young career (17). That number is sure to take a significant leap next year, and his 8-7-2 record this season doesn't turn heads. But with the team looking to take a big step from year two to three of the rebuild, defensively there should be improvements and Primeau will have more playing time to assert himself in the grand scheme of things.