Hurricanes Place Cayden Primeau On Waivers

The Carolina Hurricanes have placed goaltender Cayden Primeau on waivers for the purpose of assignment to their AHL affiliate, the Chicago Wolves.

Both of yesterday’s waiver placements – New York Rangers defenseman Vincent Iorio and Buffalo Sabres forward Conor Sheary – cleared waivers and can be sent to the AHL.

The move will clear a spot on the Hurricanes’ 23-man roster, either in the event Primeau is claimed or if he clears waivers and is therefore able to be sent to Chicago. Carolina does not appear to have an immediate need for a spot on their 23-man roster, so they will likely keep an open spot for the time being. The timing of this move seems to be more about Primeau’s own status, and protecting his chances of clearing waivers, than anything related to subsequent moves to come.

As mentioned, the decision to waive Primeau today, rather than a few days ago when players hit the waiver wire en masse as teams prepared their season-opening rosters, likely stems from a desire to minimize Primeau’s chances of being claimed. Primeau himself has already proven to be a popular claim candidate, as he was plucked from waivers last year by the Toronto Maple Leafs, and then by the Hurricanes themselves.

Primeau is a former college hockey star who has established himself as a reliable No. 3 goalie. He’s someone who can capably handle NHL starts if necessary, such as in 2023-24 when he posted a .910 save percentage in 23 games for the Montreal Canadiens.

In most years, there is more activity on the waiver wire at the goalie position than among skaters. This is likely in part due to how there are often more goalies that merit an NHL roster spot than there are roster spots to give them, since most teams prefer to only carry two netminders. As a result, it tends to be that several talented goaltenders hit the season-opening waiver wire. The Hurricanes proved this just last season when they claimed Brandon Bussi, who went 31-6-2 in his debut season in Raleigh and has become their No. 1 goalie.

Multiple teams were in need of netminders this preseason, as evidenced by the fact that three netminders were claimed by teams. The Vancouver Canucks claimed Leevi Merilainen, the New Jersey Devils claimed Remi Poirier, and the Winnipeg Jets, who were viewed as being almost certain to claim a goalie, plucked Clay Stevenson from the Washington Capitals.

Had the Hurricanes exposed Primeau to waivers earlier this week, it’s possible one of those clubs would have elected to claim Primeau rather than the netminder they eventually selected. But now that they have waited until after the dust settled from season-opening waivers, the Hurricanes don’t have to worry about any of those three teams – the three most in need of goalies – being able to nab Primeau. Technically they could, but it appears they already made their selections from early-season waivers.

Of course, Primeau could also be claimed by another team in need of a goalie, but the number of those teams has dwindled significantly now that those teams have already filled spots with waiver claims of their own. As a result of their willingness to wait a few extra days, it appears Carolina has increased their odds of retaining Primeau by a notable amount, protecting the depth of their organization in the process.