Habs sign young collegiate goalie after 2 excellent seasons.

The Montreal Canadiens have added a brand new goaltender.

There were plenty of rumblings surrounding this move over the past few days but now the Montreal Canadiens have officially announced that they have come to terms on a brand new deal with American born goaltender Cayden Primeau. Primeau is of course a former Montreal Canadiens 7th round draft pick (199th overall) at the 2017 National Hockey League Entry Draft and he has shown that the Canadiens scouting staff may have found themselves a bit of a diamond in the rough here. 

Since being drafted Primeau has been playing for Northeastern University and during both of his season there has shown that he is both a stable and consistent goaltender between the pipes. During the 2017 - 2018 regular season Primeau would appear in 34 games and recorded a 1.92 goals against average and a .931 save percentage. He would continue that level of stellar player during his second season, this most recent campaign, the 2018 - 2019 regular season, this time seeing a slight bump up in his goals against average at 2.09 but also improving his save percentage as well with a .933 this time over 36 games played for Northeastern.

The Canadiens, via general manager Marc Bergevin have announced that this is a standard 3 year entry level contract and that it will only take effect starting in the 2019 - 2020 regular season. However it sounds like he will be getting some seasoning earlier than that as it appears he is set to sign a professional tryout offer with the Laval Rocket, the Montreal Canadiens American Hockey League affiliate team, and will be joining them effective immediately. 

Here's a bit more on Primeau from the Habs official press release:

Primeau, 19, compiled a 44-18-6 record, a 2.00 goals-against average and a .932 save percentage in two seasons between the pipes for Northeastern. He also had eight shutouts. In 2017-2018, he was named to both the Hockey East All-Rookie Team and First All-Star Team, and earned Goaltender of the Year honors as well. Primeau was also named to the Hockey East First All-Star Team in 2018-19.

For the second year in a row, the Voorhees, NJ native was named a finalist for the Mike Richter Award, which is presented annually to the most outstanding netminder in the NCAA Division I ranks. 

Primeau was selected by the Canadiens in the seventh round, 199th overall at the 2017 NHL Draft. He helped Team USA earn a silver medal at the 2019 World Junior Hockey Championship, posting a 4-1-0 record, along with a 1.61 goals-against average and a .937 save percentage.

Primeau participated in the Canadiens' development camp in 2017 and in 2018.