The Vancouver Canucks have announced that forward Tanner Pearson has been injured and will miss at least one game. The injury occurred during their recent shootout victory over the Ottawa Senators. This comes at a time where the team has won several recent games but still lags behind in the North Division. Head coach Travis Green announced the injury update Friday morning.
Travis Green says Tanner Pearson will be out at least four weeks with a lower body injury. #Canucks @Sportsnet650
— Brendan Batchelor (@BatchHockey) March 19, 2021
Canucks’ Tanner Pearson Injured
Pearson was one of the Canucks’ best players in 2019-20, but has struggle dot make a consistent impact this season. The 28-year-old has just six goals and 11 points in 33 games. The scoring rate of .33 points per game would be the lowest of any season spent with one team since he was a rookie in 2013-14. Pearson’s main possession stat, Corsi For, has also dropped to a career-worst 47.7 percent. His is still capable of solid production, but there’s very little going well for the veteran in his eighth season.
The Los Angeles Kings originally drafted Pearson in the first round of the 2012 Draft. He skated for the Kings from 2013-14 through the first portion of 2018-19 when they traded him to the Pittsburgh Penguins in exchange for Carl Hagelin. The Penguins traded Pearson after several months to Vancouver in exchange for Erik Gudbranson. The 6’1″, 201-pound wing wing has collected 114 goals and 226 points in 490 games.
How Vancouver Replaces Pearson
Pearson was averaging 16:32 of ice time per game, a substantial number of minutes to spread around. The most likely moves involve moving Tyler Motte to the top-six and back-filling the third and fourth lines. Jimmy Vesey will also be a factor after the team claimed him off waivers from the Toronto Maple Leafs earlier this week. Don’t be surprised if Vancouver pulls in a taxi squad player like Loui Eriksson either. Pearson’s injury isn’t significant on its own, but it may push the team to make a trade as the deadline approaches.
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