The Vancouver Canucks announced on Thursday morning that Derek Forbort will be away from the team for personal reasons. In an ensuing move, the club makes the call-up of Erik Brannstrom official.
Forbort signed a one-year, $1.5 million contract with the Canucks on July 1. He’s played 10 seasons in the NHL; four and a half seasons with the Los Angeles Kings, half a season with the Calgary Flames, one season with the Winnipeg Jets, three seasons with the Boston Bruins, and now embarking on his sixth team, the Vancouver Canucks.
Here’s what Canucks general manager Patrik Allvin had to say when the club signed him.
“Derek gives us another big blueliner who has very good size and reach,” said Allvin. “He defends well in his own end and works extremely hard in winning one-on-one puck battles and defending the front of the net. He plays with an edge and will make our backend better.”
The 6’4″ defenceman has been known for his defensive play and penalty-killing prowess. Throughout his tenure, he’s spent eight of his 10 seasons averaging over two minutes of penalty-killing time per game and logging 847 blocked shots. The rugged defenceman is not afraid of the rough stuff either, tallying 859 hits and logging 301 penalty minutes with nine major penalties.
The 32-year-old has scored 17 goals and 79 assists for 96 points with a plus-29 rating. He’s shown flashes of playmaking after his nifty stretch give-and-go with Teddy Blueger for his first point as a member of the Canucks.
According to Chek TV’s Rick Dhaliwal, Forbort won’t be away from the team for very long.
The Canucks are set to take on the defending Stanley Cup champions tonight as they take on the Florida Panthers. With Forbort now out of tonight’s lineup and right-shot defenceman Vincent Desharnais being the only extra blueliner, Brannstrom might be making his Canucks debut sooner than we thought.