Canucks trade Pearson to Canadiens for DeSmith

The Vancouver Canucks traded forward Tanner Pearson and a third-round pick in 2025 to the Montreal Canadiens for goaltender Casey DeSmith on Tuesday.

Pearson was officially activated off long-term injured reserve on Monday, according to Cap Friendly, putting the Canucks over the NHL's $83.5-million threshold with training camp around the corner. After the trade, Vancouver can have roughly $500,000 of wiggle room by placing defenseman Tucker Poolman on LTIR.

The 31-year-old is in the final season of his contract and set to earn $3.25 million. The Canucks aren't retaining any salary in the trade.

Pearson only appeared in 14 games in 2022-23 due to injury, registering five points. The Canucks conceded after the season that the veteran's ailment wasn't handled properly.

Pearson played in parts of five seasons with the Canucks after stints with the Pittsburgh Penguins and Los Angeles Kings, with whom he won the Stanley Cup in 2014. He's racked up 272 points in 590 career games and could be an attractive rental at the 2024 trade deadline for teams seeking forward depth if the Canadiens aren't in the playoff race.

After landing Pearson, the Canadiens have multiple picks in each of the opening four rounds of the 2025 draft.

DeSmith was acquired by Montreal this offseason in the trade that sent Erik Karlsson to the Pittsburgh Penguins. The Canadiens already flipped the other main piece of that deal, Jeff Petry, to the Detroit Red Wings.

DeSmith appeared in 38 games last season and owned a .905 save percentage. He should slot in behind Thatcher Demko on Vancouver's depth chart this season.