The Buffalo Sabres have loaded up for their run to the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs, adding forward Tanner Pearson to their offensive group in the hours before the 2026 NHL Trade Deadline.
In exchange for the 33-year-old winger, the Sabres sent a seventh-round pick in the 2026 NHL Draft to the Winnipeg Jets, as the team loads up for the first time in over a decade. Pearson, a native of Kitchener, Ontario, has seven goals and six assists for 13 points with the Jets in 52 games this season, as the team has struggled at the bottom of the standings just one year after winning the Presidents’ Trophy in 2024-25.
In addition to the Jets, Pearson has played for the Los Angeles Kings, Vancouver Canucks, Vegas Golden Knights, Montreal Canadiens and Pittsburgh Penguins, amassing 157 goals and 325 points in 774 career regular-season games.
Joining the Sabres, he brings Stanley Cup-winning and playoff experience, having won the 2014 title with the Kings and having played in the postseason as recently as 2024-25, when he suited up for Vegas. In total, he has nine goals and 24 points through 59 career postseason contests.
He won’t be the only former Jet with the Sabres either, after the team acquired defensemen Logan Stanley and Luke Schenn from Winnipeg in a separate deal ahead of Friday’s deadline.
As of Friday, the Sabres sat second in the Atlantic Division and were tied at 80 points with the first-place Tampa Bay Lightning, who have two games in hand. Their next game will come on Saturday as they take on the Nashville Predators on home ice, before looking ahead to a critical clash against the Lightning in front of their home fans on Monday.
The Jets, meanwhile, beat the Lightning 4-1 on Thursday to help the Sabres’ hopes, and face the Canucks on Saturday night.
