Doubt cast on regular season Pearson return

Tanner Pearson, who resumed skating lightly just under one month ago, recently saw his rehabilitation efforts escalate to the point where he joined the club on the Prudential Center ice for a full practice in Newark on March 22. Though his continued on-ice participation during the road trip suggested that a return from a broken lower left fibula could be near, he recently cast doubt on the possibility that such a return might take place before the end of the regular season.

“I don’t know,” said Pearson, who underwent an additional X-ray on Tuesday. “I’m hoping for playoffs, for sure, but I think the [regular] season’s very optimistic right now. But we’ll go day-by-day, as we’ve been doing for how long it’s been, and hopefully we get improvement.”

The injury, sustained in a collision with the end boards following a hit from Winnipeg’s Jay Harrison on January 10, was originally expected to sideline the 22-year-old for three-plus months. That timeline hasn’t changed.

“Medical clearance, 10-to-12 weeks, do the math. Middle of April,” Darryl Sutter said. “Do the math. That’s the earliest the player can play. The earliest. There’s no ‘oh, he looks good,’ or any of that. That has zero to do with it. That’s like you taking your cast off after four weeks, and you fall down the stairs and you’re out for eight more weeks after. It’s the same as a hockey player. He’s got blood and bones, and he’s got to heal, and he’s 22 years old.”

Pearson’s body language suggested clear disappointment in the ongoing recovery process. When asked if it was frustrating that a projected return might have to wait given the improvements he appeared to have shown, he replied, “extremely.”

“I thought I would’ve been good to for Thursday the way I was skating, but it’s obvious that it’s not healing, so we’ll take it day-by-day and try to get this thing better as quick as possible,” he said.

In 42 games this season, Pearson has 12 goals, 16 points and a plus-14 rating.

“You’re going to treat him like your son, and you’re going to treat him like an athlete, which means that you need him for a long, long time, not for three or four days,” Sutter said.