Habs Trade Cayden Primeau to Carolina

While it was a little surprising that Cayden Primeau received a qualifying offer on Monday, his time with Montreal didn’t last much longer.  The team announced that they’ve traded the goaltender to Carolina for a 2026 seventh-round pick.

Hopes were high for Primeau entering the season as he was Samuel Montembeault’s undisputed backup.  While he had been the backup at times before, this was the first time that the job was his coming out of training camp.  Unfortunately for him and the Habs, he didn’t do well in the role, putting up a 4.70 GAA and a .836 SV% in 11 outings (seven starts).

That resulted in the Canadiens having to lean on Montembeault way too much in December.  After the holiday break, the decision was made that the status quo couldn’t be maintained and Primeau was placed on waivers.  He cleared and was sent to Laval while Jakub Dobes was recalled to Montreal (and had an impressive start to his NHL career).

To his credit, Primeau didn’t sulk with the Rocket.  Instead, he played his best hockey there, posting a 21-2-2 record along with a 1.96 GAA and a .927 SV% in 26 games, playing a big role in Laval finishing first overall in the regular season.  However, he was inconsistent in the playoffs, playing well against Rochester but struggling in the Eastern Conference Final against Charlotte; combined, Primeau put up a 3.27 GAA and a .878 SV% in eight games.

With the move, Montreal only has two goalies under contract at the moment, Montembeault and prospect Jacob Fowler.  Dobes was one of the other players to receive a qualifying offer today so he remains a restricted free agent.  Even when he signs, it wouldn’t make sense to only have three goalies under contract as they’d likely prefer to not need to recall Fowler should an injury arise to one of the other two.  With that in mind, it wouldn’t be surprising to see the Habs adding a goaltender in free agency this summer, one to either push for playing time in Montreal or a veteran to work with Fowler with the Rocket.

Very quietly, the Habs are starting to stockpile 2026 draft picks.  They have their full set of seven plus additional selections in the second (Columbus), fourth (New Jersey), and seventh (Carolina) rounds.