In Hainsight: DeSmith Traded

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When Kent Hughes acquired Jeff Petry and Casey DeSmith in the Erik Karlsson trade this summer, he told the goaltender that his aim wasn’t to bury him in the minors and that he’d try to trade him again. There wasn’t much of a market for goaltenders and so, the Canadiens’ general manager waited until he could find a deal that made sense for his team.

Eager to get some depth in net, the Vancouver Canucks came knocking for DeSmith who’s got a very reasonable cap hit of $1.8 million and who’ll be an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season. For the deal to work though, the Canadiens had to take a roster player in return; 31-year-old left winger Tanner Pearson. Pearson is also in the last year of his contract and the Canadiens have no problem taking on his $3.25 million cap hit. To sweeten the deal the deal, Vancouver added a 3rd round pick in the 2025 draft.

Pearson had a very short season last year, playing only 14 games because of a broken hand suffered in early November. The initial timeline for his return was set to five weeks, but he handed up missing the rest of the season since numerous operations were necessary to put things right.

Montreal will be Pearson’s fourth team in the NHL and the left winger has not played a complete season since 2017-2018. 2019-2020 was his most productive season offensively speaking as he gathered 45 points.

If the trade helps clear the crowded crease at the Canadiens’ training camp, it’s yet another veteran forwards that gets added to an already crowded roster which will make it rather hard for any rookies to make the Canadiens’ roster this season. Who knows? Kent Hughes may yet try to move Pearson as well, time will tell, but in the meantime, Canadiens players are expected in Brossard tomorrow for the traditional fitness and medical testing.