Vancouver Canucks defenceman Derek Forbort has rejoined the club following the passing of his father. The Canucks announced Forbort’s return on X/Twitter on Monday morning.

Forbort, a left shot defenceman and veteran of 499 NHL games, has missed the Canucks’ last four games following the passing of his father, Keith, who passed away at the age of 62 on October 16th.

It will be interesting to see how the club chooses to deploy Forbort with the emergence of Erik Brännström on the backend. Brännström has improved with each game he’s played, and has given the third pairing an entirely new look with his puck-moving ability. That being said, Brännström is capable of playing the right side, and a pairing with him and the always-steady Forbort could be the Canucks’ best option moving forward.

Although he struggled in his Canucks debut alongside fellow newcomer Vincent Desharnais, Forbort settled in nicely for his next two games, and his work on the penalty kill was especially noticeable. The Canucks signed Forbort for his defensive acumen and strong penalty-killing ability, and he came as advertised in those final two games he played before leaving the team.

Forbort, 32, signed with the Canucks this past offseason on a one-year deal worth $1.5 million. The Canucks take on the Carolina Hurricanes for their second game of a three-game homestand after taking care of business against the Pittsburgh Penguins on Saturday night. The Canes no doubt represent a tougher challenge than the Penguins, so the Canucks will need to be sharp from the get-go tonight. We will have a full morning skate/lineup report dropping on the site shortly in our Scenes from Morning Skate series courtesy of Jeff Paterson. Stay tuned for that each game day, typically around 12-1 PM Pacific.

It doesn’t seem likely that Forbort will suit up tonight after being away from the team for over a week. Whenever Forbort returns, however, it will be game number 500 of his NHL career, and is sure to be a special night after what was no doubt an emotional week for Forbort and his family. The Canucks play the New Jersey Devils at home on Wednesday night before heading out on the road for a date with the Sharks on Saturday.