Vancouver Canucks trade Tanner Pearson and a 3rd round pick to the Montreal Canadiens for goaltender Casey DeSmith

DeSmith started 33 games with the Pittsburgh Penguins last season, having a 0.905% save percentage and a 3.17 goals-against-average. The 32-year-old goalie is in the final year of his contract that carries a $1,800,000 hit on the salary cap.

The move clears up $1,450,000 in salary cap space and gives the Canucks a lot more flexibility to balance their cap situation. DeSmith will now be in the mix for the backup job with Spencer Martin and Arturs Silovs — giving the Canucks a veteran presence between the pipes, who has 134 games played over his career.

With Pearson, goes a 2025 third-round pick. The Canucks had to pay to gain cap flexibility but didn’t give up above the market ask for $1,450,000 in space.

The goaltender group is getting crowded quickly and there’s not an even bigger battle for the backup role behind Thatcher Demko. DeSmith certainly has a leg up on Martin and Silovs as DeSmith had played in at least 20 NHL games over each of the past four seasons.

We know that there’s an obvious Penguins connection there from Allvin and Rutherford. DeSmith played five seasons with the Penguins and debuted in the NHL as a 26-year-old during the 2017-18 season.

A press conference with Jim Rutherford, Patrik Allvin and Rick Tocchet has been scheduled for Wednesday at 11 am. We will be in attendance and have more on the trade in the coming hours as well as days here at CanucksArmy.