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Derek Forbort

Atlantic Notes: Forbort, Carlo, Poitras, Johnson, Jokiharju

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Both Brandon Carlo and Derek Forbort could return to the Bruins lineup in tomorrow’s game against the Canadiens, says Joe Haggerty of the Boston Sports Journal. The Bruins’ bulkiest two defenders have missed five and 20 games with their respective injuries.

Carlo is on IR, while Forbort is on LTIR. With the Bruins carrying 22 players on the active roster, they will need to assign at least one player to AHL Providence today in order to activate both while keeping their roster at 23 players or less.

Carlo has been by far the more impactful of the two this season. His pairing with Hampus Lindholm has seen the most of any Bruins duo on defense at nearly 400 minutes together, and the 27-year-old continues to solidify himself as a bona fide top-four shutdown defenseman. His 2-8–10 stat line through 39 games isn’t awful for a player boasting his role, and he’s managed to keep an even expected plus-minus rating despite receiving a sky-high 76% of his even-strength zone starts in the defensive end.

The 31-year-old Forbort’s role has been a tad more limited, skating 18:22 per game (Carlo plays over 20) and posting four assists in 20 games. His even-strength possession numbers have cratered since the beginning of last season, reaching a poor 43.5% Corsi share in 2023-24. At this stage in his career, the majority of Forbort’s value comes on the penalty kill, where he’s still graded out below average this season. He remains under contract at a $3MM cap hit through the end of this season.

More from the Atlantic Division today:

  • Making progress in his return but unlikely to play tomorrow is Bruins rookie Matthew Poitras, who head coach Jim Montgomery told reporters (including Haggerty) today “has a few more boxes to check” before he can play again. The 19-year-old last played on Jan. 9 and has missed four games with a shoulder injury. He’s played in only three of eight games since returning from representing Canada at the 2024 IIHF World Junior Championship in Sweden. The 2022 second-round pick has provided great value for the Bruins earlier than expected on his entry-level contract, posting 10-5–15 through his first 30 NHL games.
  • The Sabres have listed veteran defenseman Erik Johnson as day-to-day with an upper-body injury, per a team announcement. The 35-year-old left yesterday’s 3-0 win over the Blackhawks early in the third period after he was checked from behind by Blackhawks winger Philipp Kurashev. Kurashev was assessed a five-minute major penalty for boarding on the play, but no supplemental discipline is expected. Johnson has been a healthy scratch four times in 45 games this year after signing a one-year, $3.25MM pact with Buffalo in free agency. He’s notched three goals and a +2 rating in 14:11 of average ice time but is still looking for his first assist as a Sabre. Defenseman Henri Jokiharju is also listed as day-to-day with general soreness, putting both their availabilities for tomorrow’s game against the Lightning in doubt. A rotating cast of injuries may force the Sabres to recall an additional defenseman from AHL Rochester tomorrow after bringing up Jacob Bryson yesterday.

Afternoon Notes: Bruins, Cates, Senators

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The Boston Bruins saw a quartet of players return to practice, including rookie forward Matthew Poitras, defensemen Brandon Carlo and Derek Forbort, and starting goaltender Linus Ullmark. All four players were held out of the team’s Monday afternoon win over the New Jersey Devils. Of the four returnees, Poitras and Ullmark are the two who have avoided an injured reserve placement. Poitras is working his way back from a shoulder injury that’s held him out of the Bruins’ last three games, while Ullmark is coming back from a lower-body injury suffered in Boston’s overtime loss to the Arizona Coyotes one week ago. Carlo is facing an upper-body injury, while Forbort is facing an undisclosed injury that’s troubled him since training camp and earned him a placement on long-term IR in early December.

The Bruins are also missing forward Milan Lucic with injury – but they’ve progressed nicely regardless, going 2-0-1 in the three games they’ve played since losing Ullmark last Tuesday. Roster holes have been plugged by Jesper Boqvist, who is seeing his first NHL action since December, and Brandon Bussi, who is currently backing up Jeremy Swayman and could make his NHL debut if Swayman needs a breather before Ullmark is ready to return. Boqvist has managed two points in seven NHL games this year, while Bussi has operated as the starter for the AHL’s Providence Bruins and managed a .901 save percentage in 20 AHL games.

The Bruins also saw the return of Pavel Zacha on Monday. The 26-year-old missed the team’s Saturday win with illness.

Other notes from around the league:

  • Noah Cates is set to return to the Philadelphia Flyers lineup on Monday evening, as the Philadelphia Flyers take on the St. Louis Blues. Cates has been out since November 25th with a foot injury. He was off to a slow start to the season, managing just four points in 21 games – a step down from the 38 points he recorded in 82 games as a rookie last season.
  • The Ottawa Senators have promoted Justin Peters to the role of goaltending coach and assigned Zac Bierk to a scouting and development position. Peters is an 83-game veteran of the NHL, setting a career .901 save percentage. He also played in 301 career AHL games and managed a career .907 save percentage. He has been a goalie coach with the AHL’s Belleville Senators since the 2021-22 season.

Charlie McAvoy Out Day-To-Day

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Fluto Shinzawa of The Athletic is reporting that Boston Bruins defenseman Charlie McAvoy is out day-to-day with an upper-body injury. While very little information is available with regards to the injury, Bruins head coach Jim Montgomery did tell the media that McAvoy does not have a head injury.

McAvoy was unable to finish the Bruins’ game last night against the Buffalo Sabres after he suffered an injury just over a minute into the third period of their 3-1 loss. Very few details were available after the game other than that he had an upper-body injury, and the club didn’t know the extent of it.

McAvoy is the Bruins defensive leader in many statistical categories and would create a massive hole if he is sidelined for any length of time. The Bruins are already without the services of defenseman Derek Forbort, who was placed on LTIR yesterday, and would likely have to rely on someone like Ian Mitchell to enter the lineup in McAvoy’s absence.

McAvoy has been nearly a point-a-game player this season with three goals and 14 assists in 21 games thus far while averaging over 24 minutes a night of ice time. His average ice time is almost a minute higher than his career average and it appears that it may be wearing on the 25-year-old. McAvoy has been a minus player in nine of his last 10 games and is a combined -11 during that time.

Now plus/minus doesn’t tell the whole story, but it is certainly an alarming indicator that McAvoy is slumping. In those ten games, McAvoy does have six assists, but after starting the season with 11 points in 11 games, he has certainly slowed down in recent weeks.

Bruins Place Derek Forbort On LTIR

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The Bruins announced today that defenseman Derek Forbort has been placed on long-term injured reserve with an undisclosed injury. In a corresponding transaction, defense prospect Mason Lohrei was recalled from AHL Providence on an emergency basis.

Forbort played the entirety of Boston’s last game, logging 18:09, one shot on goal and a +1 rating on Sunday against the Blue Jackets. The team did not disclose when Forbort sustained the injury this week, but given there’s no public mention of an incident occurring at practice, Forbort likely sustained the injury during off-ice activity. It’s serious enough to keep him out of action for at least ten games and 24 days, putting his earliest potential return on New Year’s Eve against the Red Wings.

While Forbort has been effective again in a shutdown role this season, the Bruins should be able to shoulder his absence. He’s missed four games already this season with various lower-body ailments, all coming in late October and early November. Boston has once again received spectacular possession play from its top four of Charlie McAvoy, Hampus Lindholm, Brandon Carlo, and Matt Grzelcyk, and veteran free agent signing Kevin Shattenkirk has been solid in a third-pairing role as well. Forbort, 31, has logged four assists and a +9 rating in 20 contests.

His absence does give the Bruins another chance to see what Lohrei can do at the NHL level. Recalled in November in the wake of injuries to Forbort and Grzelcyk, Boston’s 2020 second-round pick notched a goal and three assists in his first ten NHL games while averaging 17:34 per game before being returned to the minors later in the month. He usually occupied a top-four role when in the lineup, but with the Bruins’ defense now at full health outside of Forbort, he’ll likely slide into a third-pairing role alongside Shattenkirk. He’s likely to draw into the lineup tonight against the Sabres ahead of Ian Mitchell, who has posted poor possession numbers in a limited role this season and will sit as a healthy scratch most nights.

Forbort is in the final season of a three-year, $9MM deal signed with the Bruins as a free agent in 2021. He carries a three-team no-trade list.

Bruins’ Morgan Geekie Out Week-To-Week

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11/09/23: The Bruins have announced that Geekie has been placed on injured reserve. Geekie’s place on the Bruins’ roster has been filled by Lauko, who was activated off of injured reserve in a corresponding move.

11/08/23: Boston Bruins center Morgan Geekie is listed as week-to-week with an upper-body injury, Steve Conroy of the Boston Herald reports. In addition, defenseman Derek Forbort is questionable to return for Thursday’s game against the New York Islanders after missing the last three games with an undisclosed injury.

Geekie, 25, is in his first season with the Bruins after signing a two-year, $4MM deal in free agency. The former Carolina Hurricane and Seattle Kraken had recorded a goal and two assists through 12 games this season, averaging 14:14 per game.

It’s unclear when Geekie sustained the injury, as he didn’t appear to miss a shift during the Bruins’ last game, a 3-2 win over the Dallas Stars on Monday. It’s a tough break for the Manitoba-born forward, who was seeing increased ice time compared to years past and playing a solid possession game.

In terms of replacement options, winger Jakub Lauko returned to practice today as he works his way back from a skate cut sustained last month, but he remains on injured reserve. If he’s not ready to go for tomorrow’s game against the Islanders, veteran Patrick Brown will draw into the lineup and make his sixth appearance of the season. He’s still looking for his first point as a Bruin after joining the team in free agency and has a -1 rating while averaging just 8:54 per game thus far in 2023-24.

A potential return for Forbort would certainly be a boon to the Bruins’ penalty kill, although they’ve done well in his absence, killing off 11 out of 13 penalties in the last three contests. If he’s able to play, Forbort would likely replace recent AHL call-up Parker Wotherspoon on the team’s third pairing alongside Kevin Shattenkirk. Wotherspoon, 26, has logged one assist in three outings.

Injury Notes: Capitals, Horvat, Forbort, Tuch

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The Washington Capitals have shared a slew of injury updates. Anthony Mantha, Joel Edmundson, and Trevor van Riemsdyk will all miss the team’s upcoming two-game road trip, while Nic Dowd’s availability is to be determined.

Mantha is facing an upper-body injury after taking a shot to the ear on Wednesday. Dowd and Edmundson (hand) are also listed with upper-body injuries, while van Riemsdyk has a lower-body injury.

Mantha and van Riemsdyk have both appeared in 10 games for the Capitals this season. Mantha has scored three goals and four points while averaging just under 13 minutes of ice time. He’s been the focus of a handful of conversations through the early season, facing a healthy scratching earlier in the year and continuing to appear in trade rumors. Mantha is in his third full season in Washington, where he’s totaled 62 points in 128 games. van Riemsdyk is also in his fourth year with the club, although he’s managed to carve out a bit more of a role with the club. The 32-year-old defenseman only has one point this season but recorded a career-high 23 points in 75 games last year. He’s continuing to serve in his modest role with the club this season, averaging 17 minutes of ice time.

Dowd has only played two games this year, while Edmundson has yet to make his Capitals debut, as both players are dealing with nagging ailments.

Other injury notes from around the league:

Derek Forbort Considered Day-To-Day

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After placing defenseman Matt Grzelcyk on LTIR yesterday, the Boston Bruins have received more unfortunate news for their blue line before their important game against the Toronto Maple Leafs, tonight. Speaking with media this morning, head coach of the Bruins, Jim Montgomery, announced that Derek Forbort is considered day-to-day with an undisclosed injury, and also will not play for Boston tonight.

The depth of one of the Bruins’ best qualities to start the season will surely be tested against a potent Maple Leafs offense. As was already made public yesterday, Boston did call up a trio of defensemen to replace some of the lost minutes, as Mason Lohrei, Ian Mitchell, and Parker Wotherspoon will all get a spot on the NHL roster.

In the press conference, Montgomery did mention that the team would primarily be looking at Lohrei and Wotherspoon to take over Forbort’s minutes, but their playing time will ultimately be influenced by the pace of the game tonight. So far this year, Lohrei has been playing for the team’s AHL affiliate, the Providence Bruins, garnering four assists in seven games.

This weekend, the Bruins are set to take on another Original Six rival in the Detroit Red Wings, which Fobort could ultimately play in if the injury is not severe. Nevertheless, if he is unable to play for the team on Saturday, he should be able to play in all three of Boston’s games next week.

Injury Notes: Forbort, McDavid, Kostin, Zub

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Boston Bruins defenseman Derek Forbort missed Sunday’s game with an undisclosed injury and has been announced as day-to-day. Forbort has appeared in four games so far this season, recording two points and a +3. Fourth-year pro, Ian Mitchell, slotted into the NHL lineup in Forbort’s absence, recording one assist and two penalties in 10 minutes of ice time. Mitchell slotted in for an injured Kevin Shattenkirk on Saturday – earning his first two games of the season over the weekend.

Other injury notes from around the league:

  • Connor McDavid has been announced as out for one-to-two weeks with an upper-body injury. This comes at terrible timing, with Edmonton playing in the 2023 Heritage Classic on October 29th. In the latest episode of the 32 Thoughts podcast, Elliotte Friedman was pessimistic that McDavid would play in the matchup, given the uncertainty of outdoor playing conditions. Friedman added that McDavid not appearing in the overtime period of Saturday night’s game is a sign of how serious the injury is being taken. There are few players in the league who impact a lineup more than McDavid, and there’s no doubt the league hoped he would play in the upcoming outdoor game, so all eyes will turn toward how this injury progresses.
  • Detroit Red Wings forward Klim Kostin also missed Sunday’s game with an undisclosed injury and is considered day-to-day. He’s played in four games this season, failing to record a point and tallying seven penalty minutes. Jonatan Berggren slotted into Kostin’s lineup spot, only recording one shot on the stat line in 13-and-a-half minutes of ice time. Kostin is on a newly signed, two-year contract that carries an annual average value of $2.0MM.
  • Artem Zub is expected to be out for the Ottawa Senators’ next game. In response, Ottawa has recalled Jacob Bernard-Docker from the AHL. Zub has played in four games this season and recorded three points, a mark that ranks Zub in the top three of Senators’ defender scoring. Bernard-Docker has played a sole game for Ottawa this year; only his 33rd NHL game despite being around the league since 2020-21. Bernard-Docker is expected to slot into the NHL lineup again with Zub out, although the Senators are practicing with seven defenders.

Examining A Pivotal Offseason For The Boston Bruins

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Ty Anderson of 98.5 The Sports Hub wrote a piece today going over his thoughts on the offseason that was for the Boston Bruins. Anderson writes that while the offseason losses were a challenge for the team, he believes the club can still contend for a division title, and at the very least make the playoffs in the Atlantic Division.

While Anderson offers up many reasons for optimism, he does believe that if the Bruins were to falter, they should look to move on from the eight unrestricted free agents that the Bruins will be dressing on opening night and try to acquire assets for them rather than throwing assets after band-aid solutions. Boston does have an extensive list of unrestricted free agents at the end of this year including Jake DeBrusk, James van Riemsdyk, Milan Lucic, A.J. Greer, Matt Grzelcyk, Derek Forbort, Kevin Shattenkirk, and Jakub Zboril. Moving on from these players would help facilitate a re-tool should the Bruins opt to go down that path.

There is a belief with Anderson and others that the Bruins could be buyers in the summer of 2024 when the cap goes up and the bonuses come off Boston’s cap. An added bonus to selling at the deadline would be that any assets acquired at the deadline could help the team make moves next summer when they have cap space to play with. Now, while it seems silly to be looking at trade deadline moves when the season hasn’t even started, it is an interesting idea for the Bruins for the reasons mentioned above.

One final note, and this could be a big one, is that Boston’s first-round pick this season was dealt in the Tyler Bertuzzi trade. The pick is top-10 protected and if Boston were to fall down the standings, they could grab a top-10 pick this year in a re-tooling year and give Detroit their 2025 pick when they presumably have re-stocked the NHL roster. The risk there of course is that they falter again in 2025 and hand the Red Wings a top-10 pick, but that seems unlikely given that the team will still have some solid pieces in place and possibly some reinforcements to join them.

Atlantic Injury Updates: Bruins, Bennett, Sanderson

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After a report yesterday signaling that Boston Bruins star center David Krejci would be shut down for the remainder of the regular season, head coach Jim Montgomery announces that he will be ready for Game 1 of the NHL playoffs. This is good news for the Bruins, as Krejci is one of their best playoff performers in franchise history.

Montgomery also made time for several other injury updates, noting that Vezina candidate Linus Ullmark would not make the trip with the team as they head to Montreal for their final game of the season. Nothing is imminent on that front, as Ullmark snagged the win against the Washington Capitals last night, but Montgomery notes that the team is trying to be precautionary with their goalie.

For their depth players, primarily about injured defenseman Derek Forbort and forward Nick Foligno, the Bruins head coach says they are both, “checking boxes”. It’s unclear whether either will be ready for the Bruins’ first-round playoff matchup. With the depth Boston added to their blue line at the trade deadline, it’s also unclear whether Forbort would play for the Bruins in the playoffs regardless. Foligno would be a much more lethal addition, rebounding from a disastrous 2021-22 season, scoring 10 goals and 16 assists for the Bruins this year.

For this year’s playoffs, the Bruins will have a home-ice advantage throughout the entirety. Although the Eastern Conference wild-card race has not been entirely settled yet, they will play the Florida Panthers, New York Islanders, or the Pittsburgh Penguins for their opening-round matchup.

Other injury updates from the Atlantic Division:

  • Jameson Olive, the Senior Digital Content Manager for the Panthers, relays on a message from head coach Paul Maurice, announcing that forward Sam Bennett will not play in Florida’s final regular season game. Although the Panthers clinched a spot in the playoffs last night, they don’t know if they will be playing the Bruins or the winner of the Metropolitan division. The team has played well in Bennett’s absence, as the forward has not played since their March 20th win against the Detroit Red Wings. Bennett has had a similar year to his last, scoring 16 goals and 24 assists for the Panthers this season.
  • Spending last summer rehabbing from an injury, Ottawa Senators defenseman Jake Sanderson is looking to get a proper summer of training under his belt. In doing so, Bruce Garrioch of TSN is reporting that Sanderson has declined to play for Team USA in the upcoming World Championship. In 76 games for the Senators during his rookie season, the young defenseman has scored four goals and 27 assists. If they weren’t quite ready for it this season, the Senators are fully prepared to make a run to the playoffs next year. After the addition of Jakob Chychrun at this year’s trade deadline, they will have a lethal blue line if Sanderson can continue progressing this summer.

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