By all accounts, Tanner Pearson has had a nice NHL career but here he is in Vegas hoping for more.
Pearson has won a Stanley Cup, played in 644 regular season NHL games and along with his wife built a nice family with two young kids in the house.
So why, after some difficult surgeries and his last two seasons decimated by injury, is the 32-year-old on a tryout looking for an NHL contract?
“I love it. I think that's the bottom line. I love coming to the rink. I love hanging out with the guys, and love competing,” said Pearson. “Once you get a chance to lift that big shiny thing (Stanley Cup), you want to do it again. I got lucky when I played 25 regular season games with the Kings and then right into 24 playoff games, and was able to hoist it. I think it'd be pretty special to do it again. I have a family now and to celebrate with them would be even better. And to show them how it is to win.”
Pearson has had stints with four NHL organizations and his hoping to make Vegas his fifth.
The winger played in Sunday’s 4-2 preseason win over the San Jose Sharks and won a footrace late in the game to score a goal and ice the victory.
“He came as advertised,” said VGK head coach Bruce Cassidy. “Up and down the wing. Playing with two guys (Brett Howden and Keegan Kolesar) who have played in the league. He did his job. Guys like Tanner, you have to watch the game later and you see all the little things he did for us.”
Pearson broke both his hands last season as a member of the Montreal Canadiens and had two surgeries in the season before as a member of the Vancouver Canucks. In all, he’s played in just 68 games over the last 24 months.
Getting into Sunday’s game took him a while but he showed lots of pace and smarts as the game wore on.
“I felt pretty good. I think it is all about shaking off the cobwebs to start with it being everyone’s first game. I obviously was going to be a little sloppy to start but I think I played my game as much as I could and to be strong on the walls. I thought I did a good job that today,” he said.
“I feel like I'm 21 again and trying to make the Kings, but it's good. It keeps you hungry. I thought I had a good summer training and tried to stay positive with things. Obviously, what I wanted (contract offers) didn't come to fruition. But I am really looking forward to getting the opportunity to get in here.”
Pearson says choosing Vegas to ask for a tryout was a combination of several factors.
“I think the style being in the West for so long in my career, playing against these guys so much, and just to be a part of a winning culture is something that is so special,” said Pearson. “Once I learned more about what this team would look like and how much the teams play, what their philosophy is. I thought it was a good match.”
The goal for any player trying to make a team is to stay alive in the preseason and to keep having their number called.
“Yeah, I'm putting my mind on playing every single game. So, we'll see where that leads to, but that's where I'm kind of preparing,” said Pearson. “I know I feel good. I skated a bunch this summer. Working on my pace, that was a big thing for me this summer. So hopefully it looked like it. I don't think my game changes a whole lot. When I was last health in Vancouver, I was playing hard minutes against top lines, and it's just the style of play that I think best fits me.”
Pearson is known around the NHL as being a smart player and a good teammate. He liked his linemates on Sunday.
“(Howden and Kolesar) are both very vocal, which is making my life a bit easier," Pearson said. "I've played with them for four days now and asked a lot of questions to try to get the grasp of things as quick as I can so I don't screw up. The coaches want us to be strong on the walls. Good, two-way play. Responsible. I think that's how you know you stay in this league, is you are getting your coaches' trust, right. So, start like that, and hopefully everything just kind of takes care of itself.”
