| Birth Date: | 11 August 1999 |
| Birth Place: | Farmington Hills, Michigan, U.S. |
| Position: | Goaltender |
| Catches: | Left |
| Height Ft: | 6 |
| Height In: | 3 |
| Weight Lb: | 200 |
| Team: | Montreal Canadiens |
| League: | NHL |
| Prospect League: | AHL |
| Draft: | 199th overall |
| Draft Year: | 2017 |
| Draft Team: | Montreal Canadiens |
| Career Start: | 2019 |
Cayden Primeau (born August 11, 1999) is a Canadian-American professional ice hockey goaltender for the Montreal Canadiens of the National Hockey League (NHL). He was selected in the seventh round, 199th overall, by the Canadiens in the 2017 NHL Entry Draft.
Primeau was stellar during his brief collegiate career with the Northeastern Huskies.[1] In his freshman season, he won 19 games and helped Northeastern jump from eighth to second in the Hockey East conference standings. While the team did not fare well in the postseason, Primeau was named to the All-Hockey East Rookie Team, First Team and won the conference goaltending title for having the lowest goals against average in league play.[2] The following season, he pushed the Huskies even further, winning a program record 25 games[1] and earning the Tournament MVP when Northeastern won their third Hockey East tournament.[3] Although Northeastern faltered in the NCAA tournament, Primeau was still named an AHCA East First Team All-American and won the Mike Richter Award.[4]
Selected by the Montreal Canadiens of the National Hockey League (NHL) in the seventh round (199th overall) in the 2017 NHL Entry Draft,[5] Primeau ended his college career following his sophomore season and signed an entry-level contract with the Canadiens on March 31, 2019.[6] He was immediately assigned to Montreal's American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate, the Laval Rocket.[6] Primeau was recalled from Laval on December 5, 2019[5] and made his NHL debut against the Colorado Avalanche the same day, stopping 32 of 35 shots in a 3–2 loss.[7]
Primeau played with Team USA at the 2019 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships, making five starts. The team won a silver medal at the tournament.[6]
Primeau is the son of former NHLer Keith Primeau and was born in Farmington Hills, Michigan, prior to the family moving to Voorhees, New Jersey, when Cayden was five months old following his father's trade to the Philadelphia Flyers in January 2000.[8]
He is an alumnus of Bishop Eustace Preparatory School.[9]
| Regular season | Playoffs | ||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | League | GP | W | L | OT | MIN | GA | SO | GAA | SV% | GP | W | L | MIN | GA | SO | GAA | SV% | ||
| 2015–16 | Philadelphia Revolution | EHL | 29 | 16 | 5 | 0 | 1,224 | 38 | 0 | 1.86 | .951 | 4 | — | — | — | — | — | 3.62 | .910 | ||
| Lincoln Stars | USHL | 30 | 14 | 11 | 1 | 1,616 | 85 | 1 | 3.16 | .895 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||
| 2017–18 | Northeastern University | HE | 34 | 19 | 8 | 5 | 2,005 | 64 | 4 | 1.92 | .931 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2018–19 | Northeastern University | HE | 36 | 25 | 10 | 1 | 2,129 | 74 | 4 | 2.09 | .933 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2019–20 | Laval Rocket | AHL | 33 | 17 | 11 | 3 | 1,887 | 77 | 4 | 2.45 | .908 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2019–20 | Montreal Canadiens | NHL | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 120 | 5 | 0 | 2.52 | .931 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2020–21 | Laval Rocket | AHL | 16 | 11 | 4 | 0 | 914 | 32 | 2 | 2.10 | .909 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2020–21 | Montreal Canadiens | NHL | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 202 | 14 | 0 | 4.16 | .849 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2021–22 | Laval Rocket | AHL | 33 | 16 | 12 | 3 | 1,915 | 94 | 2 | 2.94 | .909 | 14 | 9 | 5 | 912 | 33 | 0 | 2.17 | .936 | ||
| 2021–22 | Montreal Canadiens | NHL | 12 | 1 | 7 | 1 | 520 | 40 | 0 | 4.62 | .868 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2022–23 | Laval Rocket | AHL | 41 | 19 | 15 | 6 | 2,409 | 122 | 3 | 3.04 | .909 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 119 | 5 | 0 | 2.52 | .912 | ||
| 2022–23 | Montreal Canadiens | NHL | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 139 | 8 | 0 | 3.46 | .852 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2023–24 | Montreal Canadiens | NHL | 23 | 8 | 9 | 4 | 1325 | 66 | 2 | 2.99 | .910 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| NHL totals | 44 | 11 | 21 | 6 | 2,304 | 133 | 2 | 3.46 | .894 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||||
| Year | Team | Event | Result | GP | W | L | OT | MIN | GA | SO | GAA | SV% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | United States | IH18 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 244 | 12 | 0 | 2.95 | .892 | ||
| 2019 | United States | WJC | 5 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 299 | 8 | 0 | 1.61 | .936 | ||
| Junior totals | 9 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 543 | 20 | 0 | 2.21 | .920 | ||||
| Award | Year | Ref | |
|---|---|---|---|
| College | |||
| Hockey East All-Rookie Team | 2018 | ||
| Hockey East Goaltending Champion | 2018, 2019 | [10] | |
| New England D1 All-Stars | 2018 | [11] | |
| New England Rookie of the Year | 2018 | [12] | |
| All-Hockey East First Team | 2018, 2019 | [13] [14] | |
| AHCA East First Team All-American | 2019 | [15] | |
| Hockey East All-Tournament Team | 2019 | [16] | |
| Hockey East Three-Stars Award | 2019 | [17] | |
| Mike Richter Award | 2019 | [18] | |
| William Flynn Tournament Most Valuable Player | 2019 | [19] | |
| AHL | |||
| All-Rookie Team | 2020 | [20] | |
| All-Star Game | 2021 | [21] | |