President of hockey operations Jim Rutherford, head physician Dr. Bill Regan, and health and performance consultant Dr. Harry Sese met the media Monday, four days after announcing Pearson would miss the rest of this season following a third surgery. Hours after that announcement, defenseman Quinn Hughes said Pearson's injury "wasn't handled properly."
The 30-year-old injured his hand when he was hit by a shot in a game against the Montreal Canadiens on Nov. 9. The Canucks originally said he would be out 4-6 weeks. Now it's unclear when he will be able to play again.
"This is about Pearson's] health, getting him back to being 100 percent if that's possible," Rutherford said, "And hopefully the right things were done and if they weren't, that they're changed going forward."
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Rutherford initiated the investigation after Hughes' postgame comments Jan. 12. Rutherford said he has since talked to everyone involved in the process who dealt with Pearson and asked if the player ever expressed any concerns.
"I couldn't find one person that was told it wasn't handled properly," Rutherford said.
Pearson has skated with the team since his injury, and coach Bruce Boudreau originally said the forward might join the Canucks on a five-game road trip that ended Sunday. Instead, general manager Patrik Allvin announced Jan. 12 that Pearson had "a setback in his recovery" and would miss the remainder of this season.
Regan, who has been part of the Canucks medical staff for more than two decades, outlined the process for injury assessment and rehabilitation, highlighting the experience of all involved and adherence to NHL standards.
"Nevertheless, no matter how excellent a patient's care, including following best practice guidelines, complications do arise," Regan said. "I will tell you that in this case, the surgeons involved in the care of Tanner Pearson have had many years of experience and are internationally known. On a personal note, I'd have any of the surgeons involved in his care operate on any one of my family members with no hesitation.
"Having said that, in Tanner's case there have been two setbacks stalling his recovery. Tanner has been reviewed by three outside consultants who have in turn consulted with other trusted colleagues outside of the organization in order to obtain consensus as to how to best move forward with his care."
Neither Regan nor Rutherford would give any specifics on the nature of those setbacks or how many surgeries Pearson has undergone, or is scheduled to have in the future, citing patient confidentiality and privacy laws.
Rutherford said he believes the NHL Players' Association was meeting Monday to discuss the case. He also said he's open to an outside review.
"But internally, we're comfortable with the way things were handled," Rutherford said.
Pearson had five points (one goal, four assists) in 14 games this season, his fifth with Vancouver, and is averaging 13:30 in ice time, including penalty-kill and power-play time. He has 272 points (133 goals, 139 assists) in 590 games over 10 NHL seasons with the Canucks, Pittsburgh Penguins and Los Angeles Kings, who selected him in the first round (No. 30) of the 2012 NHL Draft. Pearson has one season remaining after this one on a three-year, $9.75 million contract ($3.25 million average annual value).
