Maple Leafs Acquire Primeau & Blais! + The Final Roster Is Set!

Maple Leafs Acquire Primeau & Blais! + The Final Roster Is Set!

Hey, remember that Leafs roster preview video I did a couple days ago? Yeah, don’t worry about any of that because today the Leafs claimed not one but two players off of waiverss. When was the last time they did that? And they announced their opening day roster with some asterisks. Let’s talk about it because it’s a couple interesting names. But first, my favorite game, NHL Fantasy Stars, is back for the 202526 season. Download NHL Fantasy Stars from the Apple Store and Google Play. It’s free to play and runs daily, so you can play anytime. If you miss the thrill of ripping open packs of hockey cards, the nostalgia, NHL Fantasy Stars is the game you want to play this season. When ripping cards, you can get base, silver, gold, and even the super rare all-star cards. I’m still hunting for one. Actually, the Leafs have the most talent in the league, right? So, I’m going to search for them. They’re most likely to have all-stars. Matthews, Knander, Ny, all super rare to pull. I pulled a N. And I also went out and got guys I thought could be sleepers like Dakota Joshua, he’s going to hit a lot. Matias Machelli, he’s going to get a lot of assists. Chris Tan, he’s going to block a lot. Did I get Morgan Riley? I got Morgan Riley, too. Become the GM of your own NHL hockey team. Set lineups, buy and sell players, and make blockbuster trades. Take on myself, Jesse, and Adam all season long. It’s all daily contests you can join anytime. And right now, there’s a new season offer. Get a free 10player pack today. So download the NHL Fantasy Stars app today in the Apple Store and on Google Play or click the link in the description below. So the Leafs claimed two players today, a goalie and a forward. And if you listen to today’s episode of the Steve Dangle podcast, and at the time I’m recording this, it’s not even up yet because it was a bit of a busy day. I said, “Hey, I bet the Leafs claim a goalie today.” Nailed it. And it’s not because James Rymer wasn’t good. I mean, he wasn’t great in the one game that he played, the half game that he played for the Leafs. I I kind of doubt the Leafs looked at a half game against Detroit with a roster that had nearly no NHL players on it and went, “You know what? This guy just doesn’t have it.” He didn’t look good. He didn’t play good, but at the end of the day, it’s a half a game. The real answer is there were some intriguing names available on the waiverwire. There always are this time of year, and a lot of guys got claimed. And the Leafs were able to claim two of these guys because they’re not rammed up against the cap like they have been every year since forever. I couldn’t believe this when I read it and then I could completely believe it and it made me mad, but I I preferred to live in a world where I couldn’t believe this. From Mike Maz. Fun fact, this is the first time the Leafs claimed a player off waivers that wasn’t involving reclaiming a guy they lost on waiverss since they claimed Alexi Marenko on February 4th, 2017. For those wondering, the only other times the Leafs claimed anyone off waiverss were Adam Brooks in 2022, who they got back, and Dakota Mermis last season, who they got back. Both were reclaims as they lost them earlier on on waiverss. So, what’s been happening in recent years is the Leafs have been using LTIR and everything. And because of that, they have had to spend every dollar, like have literally less than $100 in cap space because they’ve had players on long-term injury reserve and they’ve had to maximize the amount of benefit they get out of the long-term injury reserve. This year, the Leafs were heading into the week with, holy smoking, actual cap space. And it’s a good thing they did because life happens. Dude, in recent years, the Leafs have had to play short-handed. They’ve had to have university students play for them in net. They’ve made roster decisions based on accounting rather than who’s the best players for your team. And while there’s probably still an element of that there, they’re way more flexible this time around. Joseph Wall is away from the team. We don’t know how long he’s going to be gone. Scott Lton is injured. We don’t really know how long he’s going to be gone. Add to that Marshall Rafi because he’s hurt too and he was on the team during camp and he’s hurt. David Camp went through waivers cleared. That’s good news because they can use him or send him down. Henry Thr went on waivers. That’s good news because you can use him or send him down. And because the Leafs have guys like Eastston Cowan and Dennis Hill to be on the roster, they can be sent down allowing you to claim two guys off waiverss. Though the Leafs claimed goalender Kaden Primo off of waiverss from the Carolina Hurricanes and forward Sammy Ble off of waiverss from the Montreal Canadians. In a corresponding move, the Leafs released James Rhymer from his PTO. And some people are going to look at that and go, “What was the point of even signing him?” Well, they didn’t sign him to a contract, but they signed him to a PTO. The point of signing him for a PTO is a goalie falling to the Leafs, a goalie that they liked falling to the Leafs on waiverss was not a guarantee. The Leafs won their division last year. The teams that were at the bottom of the standings get first dibs on the waiver wire and the teams near the top, the Leafs are last. James Rhyr’s PTO was insurance for that. That’s how I view it. So, they go out and they get Kaden Primo. No one else claimed Kaden Primo. At least no one else in a better pecking order than the Leafs. So, the Leafs get him. Now, what’s interesting here, there’s been a lot of hating on James Rymer over the last 24 hours, 48 hours since that game. The fact of the matter is James Rhyr was straight up better, like far superior in the NHL last season than Kaden Primo. James Rymer had a winning record on the Buffalo Sabres and the best save percentage on the Buffalo Sabres, miraculously over 900. No one else had that, not even Ukapan. Aiden Primo had two very different seasons last year. In 26 games with the American Hockey League’s Laval Rocket, he was unbeatable. Literally, you could not beat him. 21 2 and two was his record. You didn’t mishar me. 21 2 and two. That means out of the 25 games where Kaden Primo was the goalie of record in the American League last year, his team only failed to get points in two of them. That’s 44 out of a possible 50 points in the standings. It’s absurd. Plus a 927 save percentage. So, it’s not like he was just on a juiced team that scored a lot of goals. Jakob Dovvic, who was an incredible stop gap for the Montreal Canadiens, did not have that record in the American League. He was 93 and one, which is very good, but he was only a 910 save percentage. But in the NHL, it was an extremely different story. In the 11 games that Kaden Primo played in, he had a record of 23 and1 with an unusable 836 save percentage. My guess is the Leafs think he’s better than that. Doish was 74 and3 with a 909 save percentage, which was actually a higher save percentage than Sam Montbo. What a lot of Montreal Canadians fans are going to tell you today is that Kaden Primo stinks. And it’s interesting to hear them say that. Kaden Primo is 26, so he’s right when he should be kind of cracking into the NHL as a regular and obviously he hasn’t established himself. But it’s very interesting to hear that because I remember seeing Kaden Primo play very early in his career. His debut was a couple games that he played during the 1920 season. So he’s 26 and his NHL debut was before COVID as a goalie. He was a seventhround pick in 2017, played two seasons of college hockey, and then in his first proseason, played two NHL games. That is unusual for a seventh round pick. He was yo-yoed up and down between the Miners and the NHL, and his numbers reflect that. 931 save percentage in the season where he played two games. All right. 849 save percentage the next season when he played four games. Oh no. He plays 12 games, he’s an 868. Holy. He plays three games. He’s an 852. Marone. Then in the 2324 season, oh, there might be something here. 8 9 and4 record, which isn’t good, but neither were those Montreal Canadians. And a 910 safe percentage in the NHL. Then obviously last season comes and in 11 games, like he’s brutal. There’s no way to sugarcoat a sub 840 save percentage. Yeah, it’s not in that many games, but wow. But again, great in the American League. What this is is a shot in the dark. Maybe he’ll be good. Maybe Joseph Wool comes back tomorrow and they wave Kaden Primo. Anyway, it’s a bet from the Leafs and one that they’re obviously hoping pays off. This allows them to send Dennis Hill to be down, which they did. So, your opening night goalies will be obviously Anthony Stallar starting and Kaden Primo. How many games does he play? Great question. When is Joseph Wall coming back? Great question. The first one is hard to answer and the second one is impossible to answer and we probably shouldn’t even be looking for that answer. So, we’re just going to have to be patient. One final note on Kaden Primo. The Leafs have a cousin of his in the organization. Have you been paying attention to my channel? I hope so. Who is it? Who? I’m going to give you a few seconds. I told you. I told I’ve told you multiple times. I’ve told you here and on the podcast. Times up. Blake Smith, who the Leafs signed from the Flint Firebirds of the Ontario Hockey League just a few months ago. Elite Prosprosspects.com has a great feature where they’ll show you other family members of this player who are also on elite.com. No, no, they’re not weird like, “Hey, here’s his uncle. He works at a car dealership.” Like, no, it’s other people who played hockey. His dad is Derek Smith, who played in the NHL. His brother is Dalton Smith, who’s currently with the AHL’s Hershey Bears. His uncles are Keith Primo and former Leaf Wayne Primo. And his cousins are Chase Primo, Cory Primo, Madison Primo, Mason Primo, and Kaden Primo. I don’t care if you didn’t find that interesting. I did. The Leafs claimed another player off waiverss. This one’s a forward. He’s a winger named Sammy Blade. Two seasons ago, he was rip roaring in the NHL. And then he wasn’t. And then he wasn’t in the NHL at all. Two seasons ago, Sammy BL was with the St. Louis Blues with head coach Craig Buru. Ah, and assistant coach Mike Van Ryan. Ah, both Barub and Van Ryan are currently with the Leafs. Ble, who was listed on Hockey DB as 6’2 and 206 pounds, was unreal for the Blues. He only played in 31 games in the 2223 season, but he had nine goals, 11 assists for 20 points in those 31 games. Over the course of an 82 game season, that is a 53 point pace and a 24goal pace. That’s a great NHL player. Following season in the 23-24 season where Craig Baru got fired, things did not go that way for Sammy Blade. like even kind of in 53 games he had one goal, one and six assists for seven points. I should point out it wasn’t just that 2022 23 season where Blade was good. Like it wasn’t just a cup of coffee where he was good. He played 15 games during the Blues playoff run in 2019 when they won the cup. He played 32 regular season games that year and 15 in the playoffs. Sammy Blade is legitimately a Stanley Cup champion. And then just when it looked like he was about to break out, it all comes crashing down. And last season, who did he play with last season? Well, I don’t remember him. Well, a few people might remember him, like uh fans of the Abbottzford Canucks on account of Sammy Blade didn’t play a single NHL game. He played 51 games in the American League, all of them with the Abbottzford Canucks. and he helped lead them to a Calder Cup championship. In 51 games, he had 14 goals, 26 assists for 40 points. That was third on Abbottzford in scoring. In the Calder Cup playoffs, he was even better. In 23 playoff games, he had 19 points. Again, third on the Canucks in scoring. Lenus Carlson, by the way, 14 goals in 24 games. He was an animal. That’s just for any Conucks fan who might be watching this. I don’t know. Lots of players were on waiverss today. Lots of them, most of them weren’t claimed by anybody. The Leafs made a very intentional move to get Blade because Bub and Van Ryan at a minimum like this player. Yo, I was about to look if Mark Zard was one of his coaches, too. Did you know the goalie coach of the Abbottzford Canucks last year was Justin Pogy? It was just It was Justin Pogy. Justin Pogi is a Colder Cup champion. All right. Yeah, for sure. The Leafs announced their roster. Funny enough, Sammy Bla is the first player listed on it because of the alphabet. Probably most notably not on the roster, Eastston County. Jacob Quillin was listed on it. He’s going to end up being with the Marlies. Reporter Chris Johnston reported that it’s just a cap thing. And then Kyle Kushman, who is required following if you’re a Leafs nerd, had the deets. Jacob Quillin is on the roster for cap reasons. The Leafs are $19,721 under the $95.5 million limit and can place Marshall Rafi or others on LTIR. Then recall Eastston Cowan adds a whopping $1,500 in cap space. Scott Lton, Joseph Wall, and Rafi are non-rosterir here. Placing Rafi on LTIR after submitting this opening roster would also give Toronto room to recall David Camp. The Leafs wouldn’t have space to call him up otherwise. That would mean Quillin and Cowan in the AHL though, so there’s still questions left to be answered. Cowan might end up making this team after all. But for anyone who’s disappointed by that, Robertson legitimately had a very good preseason. I know he did last year, too. He also had a pretty good NHL season. Guy had 15 goals. There’s no guarantee Cowan does that this year. Cali Yarncroak after an injuryplagued season last year had a legitimately very good preeason and was on the penalty kill and the Leafs kind of need that right now on account of Scott Lton’s not there. This is what you have a minor league affiliate for to put 20 year olds on talented 20-year-olds. Put Easton Cowan on the top line or at minimum in the top six with the Marlies and let him wreck shop. If he does wreck shop, you can call him up. if he doesn’t wreck shop, that’s what the Marlies are for. And as for Dennis Hildabby, he gets to go down to the Marlies where he can play actual games, which he’s not going to be playing a ton of games if he’s the backup for Stallers. And Hildy is at a point in his career where he should still be playing games. One last thing of note, I I find that note about David Camp very interesting. I still wonder if he ends up on this team. Otherwise, I think there has to be a trade coming down the pipe. He’s an NHL player. He just makes too much money. David Camp, his cap hit, his presence on the minor league team. None of that is necessary or makes any sense for the Leafs anymore. They got to find him an NHL home. So, Leafs get two new guys. Roster’s looking a little different. The season starts for the Leafs in two days. What do you think? Leave a comment in the comment box down below. But for now, that is it for this one. Thank you very much for watching. Click like if you like this video. Click subscribe if you really liked it. Tell your friends. Yeah, I made I made a video about McDavid, too. That’s on the SDPN YouTube channel.

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Steve Dangle recaps and analyzes the Toronto Maple Leafs decision to claim both Cayden Primeau and Sammy Blais off waivers. Do you like the moves? Then, he breaks down the final roster they will be rolling into game 1 with and their decision to release G James Reimer from his PTO.

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