25 years ago, the Carolina Hurricanes made a trade that would change the franchise forever.
The team shipped out star forward and captain Keith Primeau to the Philadelphia Flyers and in return, landed franchise cornerstone Rod Brind’Amour, who would eventually become captain, lead the team to its one and only Stanley Cup and then also become the head coach that ended the nine-year playoff drought.
Since that trade, Brind’Amour has been everything for the city and team, and he’s just as integral of a piece of the team today as he was back then.
But it turns out, we’re actually not done with Primeau’s story in Carolina.
In fact, over the summer, the Hurricanes executed a trade with the Montreal Canadiens, acquiring goaltender Cayden Primeau, the son of Keith, to supplement their goaltending depth.
So now, Primeau will play for his father’s former team, while being coached by the player his father was traded for, and who knows, he could even be teammates with Rod’s son, Skyler, at that.
Life has a funny way of working out that way.
“It’s just a reminder of life and getting older,” Brind’Amour countered.
Primeau doesn’t remember anything at all about Raleigh or the organization, which makes sense as he was only a few months old when his father was ultimately traded, but he says his family has always spoken glowingly about the area.
“My family loved it here and they always talked about how they had the best time,” Primeau told The Hockey News. “My parents are itching to get down to a game and get back down here.”
So when the 2017 seventh-round pick got the call that he was being traded, he was excited right away about the opportunity.
While a little bit of hockey nostalgia is nice, the 26-year-old goaltender wasn’t just acquired for his namesake.
No, the Canes had been looking to get younger in net and add to their goaltending depth and Primeau was a player they’d had their eyes on.
“He’s an exciting young kid that we’ve targeted for a while too,” Brind’Amour said. “His names been around and I’m pretty happy that we have that three because there’s a good chance we’re gonna need him.”
The American netminder has appeared in 55 NHL games across six seasons posting a career record of 13-24-7, with a 0.884 save percentage and two shutouts.
While those numbers aren’t the strongest, one has to also keep in mind that Montreal has been one of the worst defensive teams in the league and that Primeau has actually been very strong in the AHL (0.912 save percentage and 13 shutouts across 149 games).
“I try to have quiet confidence,” Primeau said. “I’m not the loudest in the locker room and not the funniest, but I like to observe and that translate to on the ice too. The number one reason why I wanted to be a goalie was because I wanted to be a difference maker. I wanted to be the one that people leaned on when they needed it whether that’s from a breakdown on the ice or if anyone needs anything off the ice.”
There’s still a lot of potential there and so the Canes are hoping to tap into it.
Because while he may not be expected to start the year with the team, odds are, injuries are going to force him into the lineup at some point in the season.
“We hope that the two guys we have are healthy and playing to their capabilities, but we also know that you have to have a third guy and we’ve probably used a third guy maybe as much as anyone,” Brind’Amour said.
“Couldn’t have been more happy to end up here,” Primeau said. “Not looking too far ahead. Just excited for the opportunity. I’m feeling good in the practices, so we’ll see.”
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