Canadiens' Primeau Must Now Rebuild Himself

While the Montreal Canadiens spent much of last season with three goaltenders on the roster because GM Kent Hughes was confident Cayden Primeau would be claimed if he was put on waivers, this year there was no such worry.

The 25-year-old goaltender had showed promise last year, but this season, in a bigger role with the backup job being all his, Primeau just couldn't deliver. His last start was on Dec. 1 when he surrendered five goals on 24 shots to the Boston Bruins. As a result, starter Samuel Montembeault had to start 10 games in a row prior to the Christmas break and the situation just wasn't sustainable.

In 11 stars this season, Primeau only got two wins and his stats were at the very bottom of the rankings. With a 4.70 goals-against average and a .836 save percentage, it was obvious no team would roll the dice on the former seventh-round pick.

Coach Martin St-Louis had refused to say the organization had lost confidence in Primeau before the Christmas break, but his silence made it loud and clear that it had. Speaking to the media after the festive hiatus tough, he explained if the goalie went unclaimed, he would have to head to the Laval Rocket and rebuild himself from the ground up.

Related: Canadiens Goaltending Could Spell Big Trouble

A goaltender with a shaky confidence just cannot be the last line of defense and this is what Primeau will have to work on first and foremost, trusting himself and playing with confidence. In a market like Montreal, it's even harder to succeed if you've lost faith in yourself.

Can Primeau hope to be called back up eventually? Well, that will of course depends on how well the Jakub Dobes experiment goes in Montreal. So far, it's not looking good for the discarded masked man, the rookie blanked the Stanley Cup champions in his NHL debut and looked calm, collected and confident all the way through. If he keeps playing like this, a demotion to the AHL is highly unlikely.

Related: Canadiens: Rookie Goaltender Blanks The Panthers

Right now, all signs point to Primeau riding out the season in the AHL and whether he gets a qualifying offer next Summer is anyone's guess, but I can't help but believe a new start away from the Montreal market and its pressure cooker atmosphere would be in his best interest.

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