The Toronto Maple Leafs have placed goaltender Cayden Primeau on waivers Friday afternoon. All 31 other NHL teams have until Saturday at 2:00 p.m. to claim the netminder but we suspect there won't be many clamoring for his services.
The #leafs have placed Cayden Primeau on waivers.
— Chris Johnston (@reporterchris) November 7, 2025
The Maple Leafs originally acquired Primeau from the waiver wire on October 7, just before the season got going as someone not named James Reimer to be the temporary replacement of Joseph Woll. While the regular member of the Leafs tandem was dealing with a personal issue and on a leave of absence from the team, Primeau was going to be the stopgap so Anthony Stolarz did not need to make every single save until Woll returned.
Well, unfortunately things might have gone better if Stolarz did do that. During the three appearances Primeau made for Toronto, he earned a .838 save percentage and a 4.30 goals against average -- eerily similar to his numbers last season of an .836 save percentage and a 4.70 goals against average in 11 games for the Montreal Canadiens.
With Primeau back on waivers, it is unlikely that any team wanting him for their NHL team puts in a claim. But, considering the Leafs claimed him from the Canadiens originally, Montreal can put in a claim and if no one else does, they can send him right down to the AHL's Laval Rocket without needing to pass through waivers once again.
But, with top goalie prospect Jacob Fowler and veteran netminder Kaapo Kahkonen as the tandem for Laval, Primeau might not even have a spot on that team either. And if Primeau goes unclaimed, he most likely will be down with the Toronto Marlies as they are dealing with their own underperforming crease with Dennis Hildeby and Artur Akhtyamov not starting off the season too well.
Primeau is somewhat in limbo right now but he did enough to earn a 2-1-0 record, we guess.
Joseph Woll is technically back with the Leafs but is most likely going to go down to the AHL on a conditioning stint to get his legs back under him. It won't be long, but the timing of putting Primeau on waivers is now only more interesting.