Cayden Primeau's last 24 hours have been a whirlwind.
The 26-year-old was plucked off waivers by the Toronto Maple Leafs on Monday afternoon and had to make the quick trek up from Raleigh, North Carolina, to join the team for practice one day before their home opener against the Montreal Canadiens.
"I don't think my phone stopped blowing up when people found out because I have so many friends and family in Toronto. They were texting me non-stop," Primeau smiled.
"It was a little hectic. My flight was delayed out of Raleigh, and then I was sprinting through the Newark airport trying to catch my connection. So, I made it. That's a good thing. But I was a little tired."
Primeau's acquisition gives the Maple Leafs more depth at the goaltending position, with Joseph Woll away from the team due to personal reasons. Originally, Toronto had James Reimer on a professional tryout, but that ended shortly after the club claimed Primeau from the Carolina Hurricanes.
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The netminder had signed a one-year, $775,000 contract with the Hurricanes on July 2 after spending the first five years of his pro career with the Montreal Canadiens.
"With Cayden, it was, obviously, with Joe's situation, we had brought (James Reimer) in. We felt bad for James. He really didn't have a lot of time to get up and go through a camp and get his feet under him," Maple Leafs GM Brad Treliving said on Tuesday.
"We probably felt having someone that's been through a camp, we like the background of Cayden. It gives us more depth. The other piece with that is, Dennis has had a really good camp. Now, I know we all get excited about opening day rosters. This allows us to have depth at the position.
"It allows us just need be for Dennis (Hildeby) to come back and play. It allows him to keep playing, so really, at the end of the day, we felt it gave us depth of the position with Joe's absence right now with a goaltender we like. And with Anthony (Stolarz), Cayden, Dennis, and (Artur Akhtyamov), we've got some depth here at the time right now."
Primeau and Stolarz worked with Maple Leafs goaltending coach Curtis Sanford before Maple Leafs practice. During the skate, the now-Toronto netminder received several stick taps from his new teammates.
"They've been super welcoming, and it's been good so far," Primeau said.
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Primeau even wore blue pads and a blue mask as he stepped onto the ice.
"I don't know [how they got it done so quickly]," he grinned. "You've got to ask the equipment managers. That was impressive."
And what was day one like working alongside Stolarz?
"We were talking about just [being] two goalies from Jersey. So, yeah, he's been great as well. Super welcoming like the rest of them," he smiled, before stamping down that they're not from the same part of Jersey.
"He's North Jersey. That's like a different state," Primeau joked. "Yeah, North and South don't get along very well."
It remains unknown as to when Primeau could step into the Maple Leafs' crease. If anything, he might get into one of Toronto's back-to-back games next week — either against the Detroit Red Wings on Thanksgiving Monday, or vs. the Nashville Predators on Tuesday.
"I had a great off-season. I feel stronger and that's definitely going to translate on the ice," he said. "I'm just trying to build off of the last couple of weeks that I had and just trying to get better."
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In 55 career NHL games (over the span of six seasons with Montreal), Primeau has tallied 13 wins and an .884 save percentage. It's not the most promising, however, Primeau did put up 21 wins and a .927 save percentage — the third-best among qualified AHL goaltenders — in 26 games with the AHL's Laval Rocket last season.
After that year, plus being placed on waivers by Carolina, Primeau is very motivated to prove his value to the Maple Leafs and their fans.
"I mean, anytime you're in the NHL, or being able to play the sport you love, you're super motivated," he said. "So, I wouldn't say there's one set of goals or anything that I've put on myself for the time being. Just trying to get out there and play and get better and give the team the best opportunity to win."
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