The Montreal Canadiens find themselves with a dilemma in front of the goals. Backup goaltender Cayden Primeau has simply not delivered the goods since the start of the season when Martin St-Louis called on him.
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After another poor performance Monday against the Buffalo Sabres, a game in which he conceded five goals on 14 shots, the American goalie finds himself in a precarious situation.
In seven games since the start of the 2024-2025 campaign, including five starts, he boasts an efficiency rate of .845 and a goals against average of 4.67. A sharp regression compared to last season, when he maintained a respectable efficiency rate of .910 and an average of 2.99.
Since the start of the year, Primeau has allowed at least three goals to the opponent in each of his appearances, start or not. The 25-year-old goalie’s fragile confidence seems to be at its lowest since his debut in the National Hockey League (NHL).
What to do? Although the CH staff stubbornly maintained a menage a trois in front of the net practically all last season, for fear of losing Primeau on waivers, it is perhaps time to consider this option to cede him to the Laval Rocket in the American League.
With this difficult start to the season, it would be very surprising if a team claimed the goalie from Farmington Hills, Michigan. He could thus regain his confidence with a club in full confidence which has only lost two of its first 11 matches of the season.
What are the options?
The CH would thus have three options in front of it to support Samuel Montembeault in his tasks as number one goalkeeper.
Option 1: recall 23-year-old prospect Jakub Dobes. The Czech goalkeeper is having an excellent start to the campaign in Laval and deserves an audition in Montreal after having had an excellent training camp. He has won four of his five starts this season and boasts a .908 save percentage.
Now, from a development standpoint, it might be wise to leave the 6’4″, 201 lb youngster in the minors so he can see as much ice as possible. Which brings us to option 2.
Option 2: recall goalkeeper Connor Hughes. Hired during the summer season, this 28-year-old Ontarian who has been playing professional hockey in Switzerland for several years has been very effective since the start of the season with the Rocket. He won five games in six games while maintaining an impressive save percentage of .931.
The CH could thus see what it has in its belly without compromising the development of the young Dobes.
Option 3: exchange/complaint. Kent Hughes could opt for this avenue if he doesn’t want to break up his American League duo and allow Primeau to get his act together in the NHL. However, the options at this level are very limited and prices are always very high at the start of the campaign.
Waiting for Fowler
However, the situation in front of the CH net should stabilize in the near future. Everything indicates that Jacob Fowler will be the team’s starting goaltender in a few years, if we rely on his progress in the university ranks.
Aged 19, Fowler has been virtually unbeatable since the start of the campaign with the Boston College Eagles. He has already collected seven victories in eight games, including three by shutout. His goals against average of 1.26 places him second in the NCAA and his save percentage of .950 gives him fourth place. However, he is the only one who finds himself in the top 5 of these two categories to have played at least eight matches.
Last season, the Habs’ 2023 third-round pick won 32 of his 39 starts.
