Canadiens goaltender Cayden Primeau has struggled at the NHL level so far with a 4.11 GAA and a .871 SV% in 21 games but has shown enough in the AHL that he’s still viewed as a possible goalie of the future. He now requires waivers to get back to the minors but TSN’s Darren Dreger reports (video link) that the team believes he won’t make it through unclaimed. Accordingly, they’re giving serious consideration to carrying three goalies to start the season with Primeau joining holdovers Samuel Montembeault and Jake Allen. Primeau has two years left on his one-way contract which carries a cap hit of $890K but with the price of third-string goalies going up a lot this summer, even the one-way element might not dissuade a potentially interested team from taking a flyer on him.
Elsewhere in the Atlantic Division:
- Bruins defenseman Jakub Zboril returned to practice yesterday for the first time since being injured in Boston’s preseason opener, relays Fluto Shinzawa of The Athletic (Twitter link). The blueliner was in a non-contact sweater but it was still a step in the right direction. This is an important camp for the 26-year-old who is entering the final year of his contract, one that carries an AAV of $1.1375MM. Boston could opt to waive Zboril, giving them some much-needed cap flexibility so he’ll be looking to get into some games to try to lock down his spot.
- Still with Boston, Nick Goss of NBC Sports Boston argues that the Bruins should keep winger Danton Heinen who is in with the group on a PTO. While he’s not a prototypical fourth-line player, he would give them a bit more offensive punch. With the firepower they lost over the summer, they could stand to benefit from carrying a bit more of an offensive-minded depth player. Speculatively, Heinen would wind up with a deal at or close to the league minimum of $775K if he got a contract offer but they would need to open up some room before they could even offer that.