Three teams claimed players off NHL waivers on roster cutdown day.
The Toronto Maple Leafs claimed goaltender Cayden Primeau from the Carolina Hurricanes and left winger Sammy Blais from the Montreal Canadiens on Monday, according to TVA’s Renaud Lavoie.
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The Buffalo Sabres also claimed goaltender Colten Ellis off waivers from the St. Louis Blues, while the Tampa Bay Lightning claimed center Curtis Douglas from the Utah Mammoth.
Everyone else who was placed on waivers on Sunday cleared, including goaltenders Clay Stevenson, Nico Daws and Michael DiPietro and veterans Erik Gustafsson, Justin Holl and Michael Pezzetta.
Nobody was placed on waivers on Monday, according to PuckPedia.
Cayden Primeau (Eric Bolte-Imagn Images)
Primeau, 26, played parts of six seasons with the Canadiens before being traded to the Carolina Hurricanes in exchange for a seventh-round draft pick this past off-season. In 11 NHL games last year as a backup, he had a 2-3-1 record, 4.70 goals-against average and .836 save percentage with Montreal.
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Montreal swapped Primeau with Jakub Dobes for the backup role last December, and Primeau ended up with a 21-2-3 record, 1.96 GAA and .927 SP on the AHL‘s Laval Rocket.
Primeau is on a one-year contract worth $775,000, and he posted a 1-1-0 record, 2.03 GAA and .900 SP in two pre-season games.
Blais, 29, spent all of last season with the AHL’s Abbotsford Canucks, putting up 40 points in 51 games and winning the Calder Cup as playoff champions. Montreal signed Blais to a one-year, $775,000 contract on July 1, and he had one assist in three pre-season outings.
The 6-foot-2 forward from Montmagny, Que., played 257 career NHL games between the Blues and New York Rangers, winning the Stanley Cup with the former in 2019. In 2022-23, Blais had a career-high nine goals and 20 points in 31 games.
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Ellis, 25, joins the Sabres more than six years after the Blues drafted him 93rd overall in 2019. While he has yet to play an NHL game, he did post a 22-14-2 record, 2.63 GAA, .922 SP and three shutouts in 42 appearances for the AHL’s Springfield Thunderbirds last season.
In 45 minutes of pre-season action, Ellis stopped all 24 shots he faced. He’s on a two-year, two-way contract worth $775,000 annually.
Douglas, 25, is a 6-foot-9, 242-pound center. He hasn’t played in the NHL before, but if he does, he would be tied with Zdeno Chara and Matt Rempe as the tallest skaters to appear in a game.
In 63 games for the Tucson Roadrunners last season, Douglas had 10 goals, 13 assists, 23 points and 117 penalty minutes. He added 14 penalty minutes in three matches this pre-season. This is the second season of Douglas’ two-year, two-way contract worth $775,000.
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