All on its own, winning the Molson Cup for a single month doesn’t mean much. Just ask Montreal Canadiens forward Josh Anderson, who won it for December, but has otherwise been mired in a season-long slump. However, in goalie Cayden Primeau’s case, it reinforces how the Habs made the right decision when they gave him a vote of confidence, trading backup Jake Allen instead.
Related: Canadiens Address Need to Move Allen at Successful 2024 Trade Deadline
It’s a testament to Primeau’s impressive play that he won the award as a backup with limited ice time, but also far from indicative he can keep up the pace, based on the small sample size. So, things can admittedly still go downhill from here. However, for the time being Primeau is rocking an incredibly respectable stat line: 8-7-2 with a 2.75 goals-against-average (GAA) and .913 save percentage (SV%), on the strength of a 3-1-1 March (1.97 GAA, .939 SV%), for which he won the aforementioned Molson Cup. It’s at least an indication Primeau’s season as a whole is the furthest thing from a write-off. It’s a sustained sign of progression.
With Allen gone, Primeau is going to play more and more. That is a certainty, after having suffered through being relegated to third-string status to start the season, only getting the scraps of the former and de facto No. 1 goalie Samuel Montembeault. It should come as no surprise that, after being given the chance to play in the NHL on the regular for the first time since being drafted in 2017, Primeau is finally, consistently, realizing the potential at the NHL level he displayed in college, winning the 2019 Mike Richter Award, and in the American Hockey League with the Laval Rocket.
Allen Saves Face with Devils
Truth be told, Allen himself has displayed a significant statistical rebound since joining the New Jersey Devils. With the Canadiens, he was 6-12-3 with a 3.65 GAA and .892 SV%. He started off his Devils tenure with a 3-1 record and .946 SV%, perhaps leading some to argue the Canadiens should have kept him instead. Not true.
It isn’t even that Allen’s performance has since regressed to the mean somewhat. Overall with the Devils, he’s now 4-4 with a .909 SV%. Even had Allen still been turning back the clock on his career, two facts remain:
- His stats had been on the decline effectively every season since the Canadiens acquired him, showing he had a hard time playing consistently behind a poor defensive team.
- Even in his prime with the St. Louis Blues, he had failed to stick as a No. 1 goalie, eventually falling behind Jordan Binnington on the depth chart.
Ironically, No. 2 immediately above doesn’t take away from how logic dictates the Canadiens had re-signed Allen to be their No. 1 during these lean years. Hence the raise general manager Kent Hughes gave him despite the statistical decline. Expectations were simply lower without the need to make the playoffs during the rebuild. It became hard to justify his $3.85 million cap hit once Montembeault started stealing his starts, though.
Primeau vs. Allen
In contrast, Primeau is significantly cheaper ($890,000), younger (24) and under team control for the foreseeable future, as a restricted agent in 2025. It’s not that Primeau is playing lights-out hockey right now. That’s just a bonus. It’s that it just made sense to go with him instead of Allen behind Montembeault on so many different levels. Now that he’s taken his game to another one, it’s easier to fully appreciate what he has to offer.
No, Primeau may realistically never hit the heights some had hoped he may one day reach, as Carey Price’s eventual heir apparent, but all he needs to do is prove to be a greater investment than Allen for the Canadiens to justify first failing to expose him to waivers at the start of the season and then choosing him come the trade deadline. That was always the case though based on how much more of a future with the organization he potentially had, making his success from this point on gravy.
In a way, seeing as Primeau’s established himself as being more critical to the organization than Allen, he’s already vastly exceeded expectations. You don’t sign Allen to the extension they did, if you legitimately see Primeau stepping up like he has. It stands to reason they would have been satisfied riding it out with Allen. Now they don’t have to, with Primeau serving as a way better option.
While Montembeault has proven himself to be a better option too, Primeau deserves credit. He’s long since demoted (and perhaps claimed by another team) if he doesn’t show the flashes of brilliance he has this season. They’re becoming more and more frequent. Don’t sell him short, figuratively speaking. His stock is on the rise, along with his stats at least for the time being.