The Vancouver Canucks signed Derek Forbort in part as a replacement for Ian Cole: a veteran defensive defenceman who can hold down a low-event third pairing and potentially play up in the lineup when necessary.
To a certain extent, it made sense. Forbort's $1.5 million cap hit is $1.6 million less than what Cole signed for with Utah HC. While he's definitely a third-pairing defenceman now, Forbort has played top-pairing minutes in the past. And, when healthy, he's still solid defensively and an excellent penalty killer.
That's the one caveat, of course: "when healthy."
Forbort left Monday's practice early according to The Athletic's Harman Dayal. On Wednesday, Canucks head coach Rick Tocchet confirmed to the media that Forbort is out "week-to-week" with an undisclosed injury. According to one report, he could be gone for over a month.
Forbort has already had to deal with a lot this season, as he left the team for personal reasons due to the passing of his father, Keith Forbort, to colon cancer.
The injury comes after Forbort finally played his 500th career game, his fourth of the season. And it shouldn't have come as a surprise.
Forbort was limited to just 35 games with the Boston Bruins last season thanks to two lower-body injuries. The injuries were significant enough to require surgery, which he underwent during the season in March. He managed to return to the Bruins' lineup in time for their second-round series in the playoffs, playing the first three games against the Florida Panthers before he was scratched.
“I kept telling him all night that he’s an absolute warrior,” said his teammate Brandon Carlo after his return. “The way that he came in and handled himself throughout that game, mentally and physically, was very impressive. Coming back into a regular season game when you’ve missed that much time is hard; coming back into the playoffs is a whole different animal."
The issue for Forbort is that last season wasn't an isolated incident. Several of his seasons have been shortened by injury. He played just 54 games in the 2022-23 season and just 20 games in the 2019-20 season.
Part of it comes from his style of play. Forbort blocks a lot of shots and gets in a lot of tough, physical battles on the boards and in front of the net. It's not surprising at all that he would deal with a lot of lower-body injuries in his career.
That was the risk in signing Forbort this off-season: that injuries would prevent him from having a real impact. Hopefully, he can return to full health after recovering from this injury and stay healthy for the rest of the season but the odds aren't great.
Fortunately for the Canucks, Erik Brännström has been a revelation since getting called up from the AHL. Brännström sits third on the Canucks in corsi behind only Quinn Hughes and Filip Hronek and has provided a much-needed puck-moving dimension to the third pairing.
The best version of the Canucks likely includes both Forbort and Brännström on the third pairing, with Brännström on his off-side on the right.
