Primeau gets three year deal, $890K aav, all one way

[NWTHabsFan]

The last of the unsigned guys is done.

Three years seems to imply that the Habs think he can be a legit NHL goalie. A lot depends on if he can gain maturity and consistency in the AHL this season as “the guy”. He did it in the playoffs, but can he do it over a long, full season? The team also needs to leave him be. Don’t bring him up even if he is playing light out. Develop him and let him dominate there first.

The $890,000 is below the threshold so they can waive him (he is exempt this one last season) and bury his contract in Laval. After all, it is weird to have four goalies on one way NHL contracts.

He is a RFA at the end of his deal. He gets $1.1M in that last year, so the QO is still in a very affordable range.

I don’t like the one way deal in the first year, but it is not my money. All guys are locked up now. Let’s get camp going!

[folatre]

Yeah, it is positive to have him signed and hopefully confirm that he can build on the strong finish to last season.

It seems like Primeau probably dug in for the NHL money this season and was willing to give the club a low AAV for the third year.

Goalie development is unpredictable. Maybe Allen gets traded this season. Maybe Allen could turn out to be in the plans for another season or two. Maybe management goes out and gets their goalie of the future.

I suppose there is some remote chance that Montreal rolls with a Monetembeault and Primeau tandem in 2023-24, but that seems an unlikely scenario.

[jkr]

NWT - I agree with that comment about leaving him in Laval. Stop with the yo-yo stuff. I think he really needs some continuity.

[seventeen]

Yes, from a developmental standpoint, it makes sense in general. To be the devil's advocate here (a favourite pastime of mine), he is 23 years old, so still relatively young for a goalie. It would not hurt to have him for a full year in Laval, getting a ton of minutes. But there may also be a case for him being the backup in Montreal and playing 1 out of every 3 games. That's once a week, against better competition. And, Frankly, who else do we have to be backup? The flip side of that, which despite having my arm around Satan's shoulder, which I subscribe to to is leave him in Laval, playing 3 out of 4 games. We don't need to have a good backup (chuckle) and even if we don't get one of the generational guys (Bedard or Michkov), there are a ton of A+ centres in this year's draft. If Dach pans out and we have to divvy out ice time between Suzuki, Dach and the A+ drafted centre, that can't be a bad thing. Having 3 centres the other team has to worry about is manna from heaven. Or we can then trade one for the A+ Dman we need.

So bottom line, leave Primeau in Laval another year and bring him up after it's too late to finish any higher.

[Skilly]

I'd play Primeau in MTL.

I never agreed with the "let him dominate" theory. Cause if he doesn't, where does that leave us. We never drafted him to play in Laval, so put him in, who cares if he loses, and let's see what we got

[folatre]

There are many goalies whose development is slow and sometimes uneven. I have been listening to Devan Dubnyk a fair bit on the NHL Network this summer and he was saying that he began his professional career in the ECHL, started almost 150 games in the AHL, and did not play in his first NHL game until age 23, while not really consolidating in the league until age 24-25. If I recall, Ben Bishop was an even later bloomer, not getting more than a cup of coffee in the NHL until he was 26.

If Montreal sees the polish of Primeau's game improving at the AHL level, then it does not seem overly detrimental to let him be the workhorse in Laval. At some point his season, I suspect that Primeau will get a run of starts in Montreal. Injuries happen. And clearly if Primeau is doing the job in Laval and Montembeault is delivering .880 goaltending and leaking goals, then those two would flip places.

[Skilly]

Cayden Primeau is 44-27-6 in the AHL ... not sure there is much more he can show, besides win the Calder. But if that's someone's definition of dominating, then Primeau will be a failure.

His record in the NHL is terrible, but that's where he now needs to learn

[seventeen]

Sept 9, 2022 13:55:47 GMT -5 folatre said:

And clearly if Primeau is doing the job in Laval and Montembeault is delivering .880 goaltending and leaking goals, then those two would flip places.

NNNNOOOOOOOOO. Definitely not. Leak away. Save Primeau for next year, but make sure he understands that not being brought up is not a reflection on his ability or career path but part of an overall strategy to improve the team.

[Disgruntled70sHab]