Bruins GM Sweeney: Forbort’s Season ‘More Than Likely’ Over

According to Boston Bruins general manager Don Sweeney, defenseman Derek Forbort’s season is ‘more than likely’ over.

After being a healthy scratch against the Seattle Kraken for missing a team meeting on Feb. 26, Derek Forbort has played in just one of the Bruins’ four games since. While injuries have kept him out of 25 games and are likely playing a role, Forbort has not been the steady third-pairing defenseman the Bruins were able to depend on over the course of his first two seasons in Boston Bruins uniform. The 6-foot-4, 216-pound rearguard has been a minus player in four of his last six games and has been inconsistent on the penalty kill, which is usually his strongest area of play. Forbort also has no goals and just four assists in 35 games played.

During his post-NHL Trade Deadline press conference on Friday, Sweeney was asked if anything else needed to be done salary cap-wise to make room for newly acquired defenseman Andrew Peeke.

“No, and one of the items that came out today was in regards to Derek Forbort, and we went to put Derek on LTIR [Long Term Injured Reserve] today,” Sweeney replied.

“People should realize that Derek has been playing through two significant injuries. One for sure is requiring surgery, and the other is one that quite possibly could. So real kudos and testament to the character of Derek, and wanting to be that ultimate team player and play through some significant pain and injuries. But it got to a point where it was not feasible for him to continue to play.”

Sweeney was then asked if the 32-year-old rearguard’s season was over.

“Yeah, more than likely,” he replied.

Forbort’s $3 million cap hit will now be stashed on long-term injury reserve, and that’s a good thing because even with that, the Bruins have just over $1 million in salary cap space.