Tanner Pearson

Tanner Pearson (born August 10, 1992) is a Canadian professional ice hockey player for the Montreal Canadiens of the National Hockey League (NHL).

On November 19, 2011, Pearson scored a hat trick, including the game winner in overtime, in a 6–5 win over the Ottawa 67s.

Pearson finished the 2011–12 season third in OHL scoring with 37 goals and 91 points in 60 games.

He was named to the OHL's second All-Star Team.

He was selected in the first round, 30th overall, by the Los Angeles Kings in the 2012 NHL Entry Draft and won the Stanley Cup with the Kings in 2014.

Pearson has also previously played for the Pittsburgh Penguins and Vancouver Canucks.

Pearson began his junior career playing for the Waterloo Siskins, playing Junior B hockey in the Greater Ontario Junior Hockey League when he was 16 and 17 years of age.

On March 18, 2012, it was announced that Pearson would miss the remainder of the season and any Colts' playoff games due to a broken fibula.

Pearson was selected by the Los Angeles Kings of the National Hockey League (NHL) with the last pick of the first round (30th overall) in the 2012 NHL Entry Draft.

It was the third time Pearson had been available to be drafted, going undrafted the first two times.

On August 3, 2012, Pearson signed a three-year entry-level contract with the Kings.

In 2013, the Kings recalled Pearson after completion of his first professional season with their American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate, the Manchester Monarchs, to be one of their "black aces" on their taxi squad during the Stanley Cup playoffs.

On May 18, 2013, he played right wing on the Kings fourth line in his first NHL game in a playoff game against the San Jose Sharks.

Pearson scored his first NHL goal on November 14, 2013 against Kevin Poulin in a 3–2 win over the New York Islanders.

On December 3, 2013, Pearson was sent back down to Manchester.

He was selected by Barrie Colts in the Ontario Hockey League (OHL) in the 14th round of the OHL priority draft, 237th overall.

In his rookie season with the Colts, Pearson played on the second and third lines, scoring 15 goals and 42 points in 66 games.

On June 13, 2014 Pearson helped lead the Kings to a Stanley Cup victory over the New York Rangers.

He scored 12 points in the 24 games it took the Kings to claim the cup.

In the 2014–15 season, Pearson played a majority of the season with Jeff Carter and Tyler Toffoli, with the line being dubbed "That 70s Line" since all three had numbers in the 70s.

He was named the NHL's rookie of the month in October 2014.

Pearson was injured on January 10, 2015, suffering a broken left fibula during a game against the Winnipeg Jets.

The injury caused Pearson to miss the remainder of the season.

He finished the season with 23 points in 63 games.

On April 2, 2015, Pearson signed a two-year contract extension worth $2.8 million.

In October 2016, during the Kings training camp, Pearson was suspended for four games for an illegal hit to the head of Brandon Davidson of the Edmonton Oilers.

He missed the final two Kings' preseason games and the first two of the regular season.

After returning from suspension, Pearson scored four goals and six points in his four games.

As an impending restricted free agent following the 2016–17 season, having established career bests with 24 goals and 44 points, Pearson agreed to a four-year contract extension worth $15 million on May 8, 2017.

Pearson through the first year of his new contract in 2017–18 season, was one of four Kings skaters to appear in all 82 games, with 15 goals and 40 points.

With the Kings off to slow start to start the 2018–19 season, Pearson mirrored the Kings struggles by registering just 1 assist through 17 games.

On November 14, 2018, Pearson ended his seven-year tenure with the Kings as he was traded to the Pittsburgh Penguins in exchange for winger Carl Hagelin.

Pearson made his Penguins debut on November 15 in a 4–3 loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning, skating on a line with Evgeni Malkin and Patric Hornqvist.

He scored his first goal in a Pittsburgh uniform against Carter Hutton, along with his first assist, in a 5–4 loss to the Buffalo Sabres.

He recorded three goals in his first six games with the Penguins.

He played 44 games for the Penguins, scoring nine goals and five assists.

On February 25, 2019, the Penguins traded Pearson to the Vancouver Canucks in exchange for defenceman Erik Gudbranson.

He made his Canucks debut in a 3–2 shootout loss to the Colorado Avalanche on February 27.

He scored his first goal for Vancouver against Darcy Kuemper in the next game on February 28, a 5–2 loss to the Arizona Coyotes.

During the pandemic-shortened 2019–20 season Pearson registered a career-best 45 points in 69 games.