Canadiens acquire forward Tanner Pearson from Canucks for goaltender Casey DeSmith

Pearson appeared in 14 games during the 2022-23 campaign and registered one goal and four assists. Pearson last played on Nov. 9 and has been out of action since after undergoing a second-hand surgery that caused some controversy around the Canucks in how they handled the injury.

As tweeted out by CapFriendly, and reported by Rick Dhaliwal of Donnie & Dhali, the Canucks activated Pearson off of long-term injury reserve today. They brought him onto the Canucks’ roster before executing the deal with Montreal.

Pearson was selected No. 30 overall in the 2012 NHL Draft by the Los Angeles Kings and won a Stanley Cup in 2013-14, where he played a pivotal role and registered four goals and eight assists for 12 points in 24 playoff games. 

Pearson was dealt to Pittsburgh in 2019 and was then sent to the Canucks. The Kitchener, Ontario product has tallied a total of 133 goals and 272 points in 590 career NHL games.

While Jim Benning was still General Manager in Vancouver, Pearson signed a three-year, $9.750M contract extension with the Canucks in April 2021 that has an average annual value (AAV) of $3.25M and a seven-team no-trade clause.

On the flip side, the Canucks obtain the services of DeSmith. The 32-year-old netminder spent the 2022-23 season with the Pittsburgh Penguins, where he compiled a 15-16-4 record along with a 3.17 goals-against average and .905 save percentage. 

DeSmith was part of the three-team trade between San Jose, Montreal and Pittsburgh that saw Erik Karlsson land in Penguins land. DeSmith has a cap hit of $1.8M and will become an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season.