With Jakub Dobes being recalled earlier on Friday, Cayden Primeau’s future with the Canadiens came into question. That’s an even bigger question now with head coach Martin St. Louis stating that Montreal will put Primeau on waivers on Saturday. (The NHL’s roster freeze is still in effect and while players can be recalled during that stretch, there is no trade or waiver activity allowed until the 28th.)
After securing the full-time backup role last season, this year has been nothing short of a disaster for Primeau. He has made just seven starts (while getting into four relief appearances) and the numbers aren’t pretty as he sits dead last among qualified netminders in GAA (4.70) and SV% (.836). It’s fair to say that the Habs were expecting a lot more from him than that, especially after putting up a .910 SV% last season.
Primeau is in the final season of his contract, one that carries a cap hit of $890,000. Perhaps more importantly in this instance, he has a one-way salary worth $1.1 million which would make it a bit more of a risk for a claiming team, especially a budget-conscious one.
One team that comes to mind as a possible landing spot for Primeau is Carolina. With Frederik Andersen out, they’ve been using placeholder veterans in his absence. First, it was Spencer Martin but once his waiver exemption was about to expire, they turned to former Hab Dustin Tokarski so despite Primeau’s struggles, they could view him as a potential upgrade.
With the waiver placement not happening until Saturday, Montreal won’t find out if there’s a taker for him until Sunday afternoon at which time he’ll either presumably be sent to the minors or be off to his next organization. In the meantime, Dobes is set to make his NHL debut on Saturday against Florida and start to make his case for Primeau’s now-vacated role.
