Vancouver Canucks and Montreal Canadiens Strike A Deal

Tanner Pearson has found himself a new home with the Montreal Canadiens.

According to TSN’s Darren Dreger, the Montreal Canadiens have traded G Casey DeSmith to the Vancouver Canucks, and in exchange they receive a 2025 third-round pick and F Tanner Pearson.

Of note, Tanner Pearson was recently activated off IR/LTIR, which means he is no longer considered an LTI candidate. CapFriendly explains how it works with the tweet below.

What does this trade mean for Montreal?

For Montreal, they have been the broker of many trades recently, and the trend continues and will most likely continue during their rebuild until they become of contender status again.

Ideally, Pearson becomes a middle-six scoring forward for the team until the trade deadline since Pearson carries a one year contract at $3.25M. To attract more suitors for Tanner Pearson at the deadline, Montreal could retain the salary on his contract.

It would be shocking to see Pearson stay with Montreal longer than this season since he is 31 years old and doesn’t really fit the age timeline of the rebuild.

What does this trade mean for Vancouver?

Thatcher Demko has struggled to stay healthy as of late, so Vancouver is going out and getting goaltender depth by acquiring Casey DeSmith.

With a goalie depth chart of Demko, DeSmith, and Spencer Martin, it creates a formidable tandem. The question now becomes who wins the job of the backup – one of the storylines to follow during Canucks training camp.

Over the last few years, it’s become apparent that goalie depth is more important than ever, which Vancouver accomplished by completing this trade.