No one in their right mind is going to say Montreal Canadiens goalie Cayden Primeau looked good, giving up three goals on seven shots in relief this past week against the Pittsburgh Penguins. That’s not the point, though.
Losing 9-2 in the end, the Canadiens turned to Primeau with the score out of reach in the third period, after head coach Martin St. Louis mercifully pulled starter Sam Montembeault. Not that Montembeault looked especially good himself that third period (along with the rest of the team), but, with 11:19 to go, and four goals to tie the game at that point, it was clearly more so about protecting Montembeault than trying to salvage a point, let alone two.
Canadiens Gave Up Against Penguins… and on Primeau
Ultimately, it looked like the Canadiens gave up, which to a degree is understandable, considering the circumstances. It’s a lost cause. Sure, they’re professionals, but there comes a point when emotionally you’re beaten even if there’s time still left on the clock. It happens.
The actual point is, in putting a struggling Primeau in under those very same circumstances, the Canadiens didn’t do him any favours. In effect, as has become tradition, they fed Primeau to the lions/threw him to the wolves once again. In so doing, it’s become readily apparent the Habs have given up on Primeau as well, despite him having much more time to turn it around, at Age 25.
It obviously isn’t just that one game. It’s the fact that, when he isn’t coming in to relieve Montembeault, the Canadiens have started only to play Primeau on the second half of back-to-back games, when everyone is presumably more tired.
For example, the Penguins game marked the fifth of five contests on the current homestand Montembeault had started. There’s no doubt Montembeault has emerged as the clear No. 1 on this team, but two of the five opponents the Canadiens faced were the Nashville Predators and Anaheim Ducks, two of the few teams below them in the standings, each a clear opportunity to help Primeau earn back some confidence, and, well, they didn’t.
Primeau vs. Montembeault
With a 4.70 goals-against average and .836 save percentage, Primeau has obviously lost his way. The Canadiens have clearly lost confidence in him as a result. However, as they’ve gone all in on Montembeault, they should look to his past as cause for optimism. Remember, at a certain point, Montembeault had been placed on waivers by the Florida Panthers as a goalie so far down their depth chart he had little hope of ever earning a full-time NHL job.
Coincidentally, Montembeault was on the verge of turning 25 when the Canadiens claimed him then, to start the 2021-22 season, the same age Primeau is now, give or take a few months. While his success story, with him having recently been named to the Canadian team at the 4 Nations Face-Off tournament, isn’t exactly as inspiring as some may lead you to believe, it is a good one.
Montembeault has defied the odds to become an NHL starter and represent his country at a major international tournament (at which all players were available to be selected by their countries, unlike with his admittedly still-impressive gold medal-winning performance at the 2023 Men’s Ice Hockey World Championships). At the end of the day though, Montembeault still has a lot more to prove. Objectively speaking, even though Montembeault has earned his spot, his lack of a Stanley Cup, compared to the two other Canadian goalies, Jordan Binnington and Adin Hill, puts him third on the depth chart in management’s eyes. He’s unlikely to see playing time, and, even though his goals saved above expected is a healthy 4.0 per MoneyPuck.com, that figure ranks 20th in the NHL. He’s still 9-12-2 with a mediocre 3.01 GAA and .901 SV%. He’s far from an elite goalie in other words. He’s no saviour.
Related: Team Canada Adding Canadiens’ Montembeault to 4 Nations Face-Off Roster Isn’t Political
Sure, Montembeault gives the Canadiens the best chance to win every night. However, they’re still in last place in the division. So, giving him the reins to this degree is inconsequential. They’re realistically going to miss the playoffs by a wide margin. Furthermore, nothing about Montembeault’s career up to this point suggests he’s capable of increasing his workload to the degree the Habs seem to want. He’s never played more than 41 games, in the NHL or American Hockey League, and it was actually Primeau who played better down the stretch last season after Jake Allen got traded to make it a traditional two-goalie rotation. Primeau earned a .921 SV% over the final nine games he played. Montembeault had one of .897 over his last 11, when he was unofficially made the team’s undisputed No. 1.
The year before, from March on, despite finishing with a respectable .901 SV%, Montembeault had earned one of .894 from March on, a span of 14 games (of 22 total). Over an 82-game schedule, that proportion translates to 52 games. When, again, he’s never played more than 41. It sadly seems, for whatever reason, the Canadiens have somehow come to the curious conclusion Montembeault is Carey Price (when over-relying on Price worked out so well, right?). In case it wasn’t abundantly clear, Montembeault isn’t. And he’s in little danger of leading the Habs to the playoffs this season all on his lonesome, making this strategy of pushing him to his limits pure insanity.
They’re the ones clearly not in their right minds.
Canadiens Have Duty to Do Right by Primeau
Obviously, St. Louis wants to win every game. That’s his job. Fine. However, the Canadiens need to look at the big picture here and realize mishandling your No. 1 goalie to this degree is bad for long-term business. If you don’t have faith in Primeau, that’s understandable. It isn’t to leave your backup flagging in the wind every. single. time.
Play the backup you’ve got and use this losing season as an opportunity to help him regain his confidence or get a new backup. If you’ve got reservations about promoting prospect Jakub Dobes too soon, try the recently signed 28-year-old Connor Hughes, who’s backing him up on the Laval Rocket, with better numbers. If you’d prefer not to, enquire about any number of marginalized second-string goalies around the NHL. There are countless possibilities, each one better than how the Canadiens have gone about business up to now.
You may not care about Primeau’s development anymore and it’s abundantly clear that they don’t, especially with prospect Jacob Fowler playing as well as he is. However, Primeau does. And giving him more of an opportunity, whether it’s with the Canadiens, Rocket or another team altogether, is little skin off your back in the grand scheme of things.
It’s really the very least the Canadiens can do, because setting him up to fail like they have is fairly disgraceful. And, if it helps, it isn’t necessarily about giving Primeau every opportunity to succeed, but, as explained, giving Montembeault one too. That’s one concept St. Louis and the Canadiens should be able to get behind, at least. You’d hope anyway. Otherwise, that would be good reason for Habs fans to lose faith in them as an organization.
