Is a goalie about to leave the Montreal Canadiens? Julien Brisebois might be very active in this matter

PUBLICATION

Elias Edmonson
October 13, 2023 (6:30 PM)

SHARE THIS STORY

At the start of this season, the Tampa Bay Lightning find themselves in a somewhat difficult situation with the prolonged absence (8 to 10 weeks) of their star goaltender, Andrei Vasilevskiy. Indeed, the team led by John Cooper is currently placing trust in two goalies who have only accumulated 36 NHL games between them, namely Jonas Johansson and Matt Tomkins.

The former Colorado Avalanche goalie, Jonas Johansson, is far from a top-tier starting goaltender, having only secured 12 victories in 36 games, while recording a goals-against average of 3.31. As for Matt Tomkins, the 29-year-old goaltender has mainly played in the ECHL and Europe in recent years.

There is no doubt that the Lightning's general manager, Julien BriseBois, is actively working to find a solution to allow the team to have a better goaltending duo. However, during his appearance on BPM Sports radio, he mentioned that he was hesitant to make a trade since he wanted to keep his draft picks and young prospects.

On the other hand, he later admitted that he was heavily looking at the situation of other teams, to potentially have the opportunity to claim a goalie for free, via waivers. He specifically indicated that he was closely monitoring the situation of Cayden Primeau with the Montreal Canadiens.

"We will continue to analyze the situation as goalies may become available (especially on waivers). If we ever see an opportunity to improve our lot, we will definitely take advantage of it!" - Julien BriseBois

A telling response!

It should be noted that Kent Hughes recently mentioned that an NHL general manager had expressed his interest to him in claiming the young 24-year-old American if he was ever placed on waivers. Could it be the Tampa Bay Lightning?

"But what we understand, above all, is that he will not hesitate to turn to waivers to get his hands on a (better) goaltender.

It's easy to make connections between the goaltending situation in Tampa and that of the Montreal Canadiens. If Kent Hughes ever decides to put Cayden Primeau on waivers." - Via Marc-Olivier Cook

The goalie market could get active in the coming weeks, and it will be very interesting to see what the Canadiens will want to do in this matter, as they currently have three goalies with the big club.

Do you think Cayden Primeau will join the Tampa Bay Lightning soon?

Credit: Habs et LNH