The Toronto Maple Leafs are preparing to open the 2025-26 season at home against the Montreal Canadiens on Wednesday night. The Leafs will still be without Joseph Woll, who is on a personal leave of absence from the team. In response, the team has added another goaltender to the roster, claiming Cayden Primeau off waivers from the Carolina Hurricanes, according to NHL insider Frank Seravalli.
Primeau was the 199th overall pick by the Montreal Canadiens in the 2017 NHL Draft. After finishing his time at Northeastern University, the netminder got his first taste of NHL action playing in two games during the 2019-20 season. Overall, he has played in a total of 55 games, all for the Canadiens. He is 13-24-7 in that time with a 3.69 goals-against average and a .884 save percentage. Despite the modest totals, he was much better in the American Hockey League with the Laval Rockets.
Primeau was a restricted free agent this past summer and would be traded to the Hurricanes before signing a one-year $775,000 contract. He was waived by Carolina, and the Leafs have picked him up, taking on that contract. Toronto also added Sammy Blais off waivers. Blais played for head coach Craig Berube in St. Louis.
The Maple Leafs' goaltending situation
With Woll currently away from the team, Toronto has four other goaltending options. The primary goaltender will be Anthony Stolarz. He is nearing a contract extension with the Maple Leafs and will carry the majority of the workload while Woll is out. The team also brought in James Reimer on a professional tryout offer, but no decision has been made about him receiving a contract from the team.
Beyond Primeau, Dennis Hildeby is also under contract. Hildeby played in six games with the team in the 2024-25 season. He went 3-3 with a 3.33 goals-against average and an .878 save percentage. Those are the only six games he has played at the NHL level. He may be the top option to stay at the NHL level for the team. Primeau struggled last season, going just 2-3-1 with a 4.70 goals against average and a .836 save percentage with Montreal.
Regardless of which goaltender gets the backup spot while Woll is out, Stolarz will be getting as many starts as he can handle. A decision will need to be made sooner rather than later on the backup. The team plays back-to-back nights on October 13 and 14.
