Canucks trade Tanner Pearson to Montreal Canadiens

Tanner Pearson’s time with the Vancouver Canucks has come to an end.

Canucks GM Patrik Allvin has sent the 31-year-old winger and a third-round pick to the Montreal Canadiens in exchange for backup goalie Casey DeSmith.

The move is a salary dump by the Canucks, who were “aggressively” looking to clear cap space, according to a report yesterday.

General Manager Patrik Allvin announced today that the #Canucks have acquired goaltender Casey DeSmith from the Montreal Canadiens in exchange for forward Tanner Pearson and a third-round pick in the 2025 NHL Entry Draft. pic.twitter.com/zAbo2Chwsn

— Vancouver Canucks (@Canucks) September 19, 2023

“On behalf of the Canucks organization, we are very grateful to Tanner Pearson for all of his contributions and efforts in Vancouver the last five seasons,” Allvin said in a media release. “We wish him and his family the best in their next chapter.”

Pearson is coming off a nightmare season that saw him undergo multiple surgeries following a hand injury in November.

“I’m just trying to get my hand back,” Pearson said last April. “I’m just trying to go home and be a dad and be with my kids and be able to play at the moment. So yeah, it sucks.”

The veteran forward has one year left on a contract that carries a $3.25 million cap hit. He has 590 games of NHL experience and won a Stanley Cup with the Los Angeles Kings in 2014. A top-six forward for parts of five seasons with the Canucks, Pearson’s best year in Vancouver was in 2019-20 when he scored 21 goals and had 45 points in 69 games.

DeSmith, 32, gives the Canucks an established veteran backup goalie to Thatcher Demko. The Rochester, New Hampshire native has one year left remaining on a contract that carries a $1.8 million cap hit.

“We are also excited about adding some more goaltending depth to our roster with a veteran like Casey DeSmith,” Allvin added. “His experience and versatility will provide us with more options and stability in the crease moving forward.”

Signed as an undrafted free agent by the Penguins in 2017, DeSmith is a goalie the current Canucks management team is familiar with. He has appeared in 134 career NHL games, posting a .912 save percentage. DeSmith played a career-high 38 games in Pittsburgh last season, posting a 15-16-4 record with a .905 save percentage.

DeSmith was one of the many pieces involved in the three-team Erik Karlsson trade, moving from Pittsburgh to Montreal. The Canadiens already had two goaltenders in place, and thus looked to move him before the season began.

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