Kent Hughes and Jeff Gorton spent their time last week at the Canadian golf tournament tempering expectations. Hughes continued in the same vein when it came time to talk about his most recent acquisition.
This player is Tanner Pearson, whom the Habs acquired Tuesday evening from the Vancouver Canucks, for goaltender Casey DeSmith.
Obviously, a player coming back from a 5-point-in-14-game season shouldn’t have high expectations either. But Montreal remains Montreal, and fans and observers alike can sometimes get excited.
Hughes himself is guilty of getting fired up, praising Pearson for his “two Stanley Cups.” The forward only raised it in 2014 with the Los Angeles Kings.
The fact remains that Pearson was 21 when he, Tyler Toffoli and Jeff Carter formed the trio nicknamed That 70’s Line, a nod to the show and their bib numbers. The Pearson who was due to land in Montreal on Wednesday is 31 years old. What does he have left?
On the one hand, Hughes assures that he is healthy. “I can tell you that he has already passed his medical exam in Vancouver,” said the general manager of the Canadiens on Wednesday noon. He’s skating. The strength in his injured hand is almost at 80%. Is it 100%? No. But we expect him to be available to play and we expect to see him on the ice [Thursday]. »
This partly clarifies the picture, because his state of health was nebulous at best. He hasn’t played since Nov. 9, the result of a broken left hand that required five to seven surgeries due to complications. The Vancouver Province reported in early September that Pearson had returned to on-ice training and was able to shoot, but the player himself and his entourage remained discreet.
Besides, November 9th has already been 10 months. The walk towards a return to play, at his age, and knowing that he has never been the most explosive on skates, could be long.
Hughes, however, received good reports from Anthony Beauvillier, Pearson’s teammate with the Canucks until Tuesday evening. Beauvillier texted Hughes on Tuesday “to say he [Pearson] is skating with the team and doing well on the ice,” Hughes said.
It could indeed be complicated as a return. Wrist injuries can be debilitating for hockey players; Jonathan Drouin only scored 10 goals in 144 games after his first injury in November 2019.
In addition, Pearson’s statistics for his shortened 2022-2023 season are nothing to write home about for CH. He had been held to just one goal in 14 games, and the Canucks were spending a lot more time in the defensive zone. When Pearson was on the ice, the team controlled 44% of shot attempts and 43% of high-quality scoring chances, according to Natural Stat Trick.
In defense of the newcomer, the fall 2022 Canucks were more dysfunctional than the Hilton family in the 1990s, starting the season with seven straight losses.
Regardless, Kent Hughes and Martin St-Louis insisted on the experience of the Kitchener winger. “It also takes a bit of gray hair to pass on experience to young people. We think Tanner is going to bring that to the team,” Hughes said.
St-Louis candidly admitted that he only knew Pearson through his CV. “He’s a guy who’s established in the National League. He plays shorthanded, he’s good around the net, you can trust him on the ice. He has experience. »
By dropping Mike Hoffman and Rem Pitlick this summer, Hughes believed he had partly solved his problem of surplus attackers, especially on the wing. The arrival of Pearson may therefore seem contradictory from this perspective, especially since the CH has several attackers arriving in the professional ranks this fall. Does Pearson’s arrival block a door for a young person?
In the short term, the problem is swept under the rug. Hughes has indeed indicated that Christian Dvorak will not be ready before November. The center had knee surgery in March and his presence at the start of the season was uncertain.
Hughes assures that the charismatic number 28 has not suffered a setback in his rehabilitation. “We just want to make sure he’s 1000 percent ready. We don’t want to rush returns and get back into a cycle like last year. »
With Pearson’s arrival, the Canadiens have 13 forwards on one-way NHL contracts, a number that includes Dvorak. Added to them are Juraj Slafkovksy and Jesse Ylönen, who have two-way contracts.
There are people, but also flexibility if a young person causes a surprise, assures Hughes. “We should also not force young people to play if they are not ready and they are better served playing in Laval. But if a young person demonstrates that he deserves a place, we will make the necessary adjustments. »
