Nightmares can be followed by sweet dreams. Tanner Pearson woke up Friday to good vibes and a contract with the Vegas Golden Knights.
The 32-year-old Pearson was able to call his wife Meaghan at their home in Kitchener, Ont., and begin the process of reuniting their family.
Pearson has been living in a hotel during Golden Knights training camp while his wife and two kids remained in Canada. Vegas brought Pearson to camp on a professional tryout (PTO) with no promise of a contract. His excellent play and character led to Vegas GM Kelly McCrimmon offering a one-year deal at $775,000.
"It's definitely nice to keep the dream alive. It’s a lot of hard work and being positive throughout the way, and, I thought I've done a good job of that, but it's nice to be sticking around,” said Pearson. “There was kind of a bit of communication there that I was doing the right things, but I wasn't getting too far ahead of myself. Just sticking with my game plan and letting each day take care of itself till something happened.”
The last two seasons have been miserable for Pearson. During the 22-23 campaign, while a member of the Vancouver Canucks, Pearson injured his hand which led to three surgeries and a lost year. Last season, as a member of the Montreal Canadiens, Pearson broke both his hands and endured more frustration.
When no contract offers came his way this offseason, his agent was able to arrange a tryout with Vegas. The hope was that a full summer of training would get him back to where he was prior to an onslaught of injuries.
“It was a great feeling to call them and let them know. I've missed them a whole bunch. They've missed me. So to be able to see them will be great. We got a lot of stuff to figure out first for them to get here but I'm excited for it for sure,” said Pearson. “A lot of FaceTime. Everyday. With the time change you're gonna talk to them when they're waking up. Always talking to them whenever I can.”
Pearson has been excellent skating mostly on the left side of a fourth line with Brett Howden at center and Keegan Kolesar on the right. A Stanley Cup champion with the Los Angeles Kings in 2014, Pearson has scored two goals and three points in the preseason while posting an impressive plus-four rating.
Vegas head coach Bruce Cassidy has been impressed with Pearson’s hockey sense.
“Tanner has done all the little things. He’s a guy who has played in the league and he has some offense too,” said Cassidy. “I’ve liked the way he’s played and he is a character person as well.”
Pearson has played in 644 NHL games scoring 138 goals and 147 assists.
GMKM on camp: McCrimmon joined the VGK TV broadcast prior to Thursday’s 3-1 loss to the Colorado Avalanche.
Ashali Vise: We are thinking about all the boxes that you wanted the organization to check in training camp. What were some of those primary points, and where are you in the process of checking those boxes?
Kelly McCrimmon: Well, the thing for me was, with training camp is we're always excited for the next steps in training camp. I thought we had a really, good performance at the Rookie Tournament in LA from our prospects. Bruce ran a good camp, and you get right into the preseason. We had an opportunity to look at quite a few players over that, period of time, and now really excited about the final two games where we'll play a much closer lineup to our opening roster.
Gary Lawless: You knew last year at the trade deadline that you were going to have some changes to your team. I think you wanted to avoid free agency because you knew there was money coming into the market, and you went and you got (Tomas) Hertl and (Noah) Hanifin. Hanifin paid immediate dividends because he was healthy. Hertl not so much, but how has he been at camp, and what should fans hope to see from him this year?
Kelly McCrimmon: Well, you described it well. Noah was, playing really well for Calgary when we acquired him, and the transition for him was seamless. He ended up being, partnered with Nicolas Hague for the most part in his time here, which is what we're going to do to start the season. That wasn't something we anticipated, but they seemed to have real good chemistry together. I think with Tomas it is about the opportunity to start fresh. I made the comment in my opening media availability for training camp that it's similar to when we acquired Jack (Eichel). I think he played a couple of months at the end of that first season, but then the chance to have a full summer of training and be here and have your family settled. All those things that come with having some time to be prepared for the season. Tomas looks in great shape. He looks really determined. His work ethic has been great. I think the other thing with it is our four centers are well defined. When we acquired Tomas last year, we effectively had five centers for four chairs. It meant somebody going to the wing, and it was just a little bit of a tougher time to fit them in with only at least four or five games in the regular season. A completely different set of circumstances this season and one that I think he's really looking forward to.
Ashali Vise: What about the future? What is this camp showing you about the strengths of the organization as a whole?
Kelly McCrimmon: One of the things that you want to really get a good look at during training camp and in the preseason is some of the players that aren't going to be on the opening or night roster. Who's gonna be, your first call up? I'll use an example of a Jakub Brabenec. Jakub Brabenec this year versus Jakub Brabenec 12 months ago. It's a totally different player. You begin to get a sense of being able to project what he might look 12 months from now. And does he get any NHL games this year? For example, Kaeden Korczak was walking in these shoes, a year ago where he was trying to be the first call up. He did get 26 or 27 games in the NHL and showed us he was ready to play. We made decisions to make sure he's included in our opening lineup this year. It’s always fluid. We’ve, unfortunately seen, far too many times where injuries are part of it. I'm really excited about some of the players we've brought into Henderson as well and looking forward to watching them, with their preseason beginning tomorrow and get a handle on the players down there and how they're doing.
Gary Lawless: You'll play 6 preseason games, and I would suggest that they've been really well used. The next two games are kind of gonna be dress rehearsals, but the game the other night in Colorado, important for Joe Fleming, who's done a lot of heavy lifting for you, in the ECHL and maybe in the American League this year. He’s fought for his teammates, and he gets a goal in front of his mom and dad. Brisson pops in that game. Aston-Reese gets going. These games are these games are important for lots of reasons, not just getting your veterans ready.
Kelly McCrimmon: They really are. For a young guy playing his first, preseason game it's exciting. These little milestones along the way that, individually for those young players are really special. They're hoping to turn those into NHL regular season games at some point.
