Hurricanes place Cayden Primeau on waivers
The Carolina Hurricanes have placed goaltender Cayden Primeau on waivers for the purposes of assignment to the AHL’s Chicago Wolves, the club announced Wednesday afternoon.
Primeau, 27, posted a 21-11-7 record, four shutouts, and a .916 save percentage in 39 games with the Wolves during the 2025-26 regular season. The 6’3″ netminder subsequently went 9-9 with a .913 save percentage in 18 playoff contests as the Wolves reached the 2026 Calder Cup Final.
The Hurricanes signed Primeau to a new two-year, one-way, $912,500 AAV contract as a restricted free agent on Sept. 9. The Farmington Hills, Mich. product was initially named to Carolina’s 2026-27 season-opening roster but will likely now report to Chicago as the organization’s No. 3-ranked goaltender behind Brandon Bussi and Pyotr Kochetkov.
The Hurricanes originally acquired Primeau from the Montreal Canadiens in June of 2025 in exchange for a seventh-round pick in the 2026 NHL Draft. At the start of the 2025-26 season, the Hurricanes placed Primeau on waivers, where he was claimed by the Toronto Maple Leafs; after appearing in three NHL games with Toronto, Primeau was waived again in early November and reclaimed by Carolina, at which point he was assigned to the AHL.
The Canadiens originally selected Primeau in the seventh round (No. 199 overall) of the 2017 NHL Draft. A standout over the following two seasons at Northeastern University, Primeau turned pro in the Canadiens organization in the 2019-20 season and made his NHL debut the same year.
Primeau ultimately appeared in 55 NHL games with the Canadiens over parts of six seasons. He had his strongest run with the team in 2023-24, going 8-9-4 with a .910 save percentage and two shutouts in 23 games. But after being supplanted by Jakub Dobes as the Canadiens’ backup in 2024-25, Primeau’s days in the organization were numbered.
In 58 career NHL games with the Canadiens and Maple Leafs, Primeau has posted a 15-25-7 record with two shutouts and an .882 save percentage. We’ll find out Thursday whether he goes unclaimed off the waiver wire.
