Tanner Pearson will not be returning to Montreal

When the Habs acquired Tanner Pearson last September, no one in Montreal got nervous. Above all, Kent Hughes had found a way to pass on Casey DeSmith – acquired with Jeff Petry – to another team, while getting his hands on a third-round pick in 2025.

In the end, we all suspected that Pearson would only be passing through Montreal, and that if he was lucky – and could stay healthy – he would at best play just enough games to be considered a former Canadien for the rest of his life.

Pearson was recovering from a serious wrist injury, and we weren’t quite sure what to expect…

After having enjoyed some nice spells at the start of the season on an older line (alongside Brendan Gallagher and Sean Monahan), Pearson was quite invisible in the second half of the season. He wandered back and forth between the infirmary, the bridge and the locker room, ending the season with 13 points in 54 games (and a minus-12 rating).

At a total salary of $4.25 million in 2023-24, we’ve seen better returns on investment…

Pearson will be eligible for full autonomy on July 1… and what we all suspected was announced by David Pagnotta(The 4th Period) yesterday: Pearson will not sign a new contract with the Montreal Canadiens.

Pearson Nobody fell out of their chair, right?

Doesn’t anyone want to organize a protest like we did when Alex Kovalev left for the nation’s capital?

The most surprising part of Pagnotta’s statement was when he said that Pearson would make a good second or third line player for a contender. Canadien fans are saying no, not in 2024!

Interest in Pearson was virtually nil at the last trade deadline, and according to Renaud Lavoie, Pearson’s career may be over, period. There’s a big gap between playing on the second line in Florida and retiring!

Note that in the same text, Pagnotta indicated that Jonathan Marchessault and the Golden Knights will start talking next week, that the Flames are preparing an offer for Oliver Kylington, that Matt Dumba won’t be back in Tampa Bay, that Travis Konecny could earn an average annual salary of $8 to $10 million, that Anthony Beauvillier would like to stay in Nashville and so on. I suggest you read Pagnotta’s text in its entirety.

Back to our (Montreal) sheep… not the ones you count to sleep though!

The Habs have three players eligible for full autonomy: Pearson, Colin White and Chris Wideman. Pearson and Wideman are gone… and White is probably gone too.

Arnaud Durandeau, Philippe Maillet, Mitchell Stephens and Brady Keeper, who all played for the Rocket in 2023-24, will also be eligible for full autonomy.

Jesse Ylonen(RFA with arbitration), Arber Xhekaj(RFA), Lias Andersson(RFA with arbitration), Filip Cederqvist(RFA with arbitration), Justin Barron(RFA) and Mattias Norlinder(RFA with arbitration) will all be eligible for restricted autonomy. Cederqvist is expected to play overseas, and the Swedes (Andersson and Norlinder) could leave the Habs in the summer. Jesse Ylonen? Hard to say…

To find out who will be joining the team this off-season and who will be traded (especially defensemen), we’ll have to wait a little longer. Please, I want another Jeff Petry-style deal, which surprised everyone (especially Norman Flynn)…

In gossip

– Vassili is no longer with the Montreal CF. What will be his next challenge?

– Let’s keep Lassiter on top, OK?

FREE LASSITER
3 goals and 4 assists ( point guard)
Much more comfortable in his true position as a striker or attacking player. Think of him as the godsend in the MILLER for Duke and Lassiter swap.

We need to recruit a piston/left-back.
I’ll throw out a name… pic.twitter.com/OcBdqzlCV7

– Patrice Bernier (@pbernier10) May 30, 2024

– Biiiiig!

– We would have played Toronto in July…

The road to the Voyageurs Cup is set!

Who takes it home? #CanChamp pic.twitter.com/k4cgnONJ4o

– Canada Soccer (@CanadaSoccerEN) May 30, 2024

– Montreal needs to stop looking bad like this.