On March 8, the day of the NHL trade deadline, the Bruins placed the veteran defenseman on long-term injured reserve. Meeting with the media later that afternoon, general manager Don Sweeney said that Forbort had been playing through two different injuries, that at least one of them required surgery, and that his season was “more than likely” over.
Fast forward six weeks to Monday morning. Forbort was taking part in morning skate at Warrior Ice Arena ahead of Game 2 of Boston’s first-round series against the Maple Leafs. He just played in two AHL games with the Providence Bruins over the weekend.
All signs indicate that Forbort is very close to being a legitimate lineup option for the Bruins. Coach Jim Montgomery said he isn’t an option for Monday night, but that he is expected to travel to Toronto with the team for Games 3 and 4.
So, what happened here? How did Forbort go from being “more than likely” done for the year to possibly returning in the first round?
Skeptics might suggest it was just a case of LTIR and salary cap shenanigans – that the Bruins knew Forbort had a chance to come back but threw him on LTIR until the playoffs so they could free up $3 million and add another player before the deadline. That money was, in fact, what allowed them to acquire Andrew Peeke.
But the reason the Bruins targeted a player like Peeke – a rugged, physical, defense-first defenseman who can kill penalties – was because they thought Forbort was done. If the Bruins knew Forbort would be ready for Round 1, they may have targeted a different position or skillset instead, such as another scoring winger.
Instead, this seems like a case of Forbort’s recovery simply going better and quicker than initially anticipated, and Forbort himself refusing to accept that his season was over.
“Derek’s made great strides, a little bit surprisingly to tell you the truth,” Sweeney said this past Thursday. “He was on an operating table not too long ago for two different situations. So, good on him, good on the training staff. … It’s certainly a positive sign that he’s made the progress that he has.
“And credit to Derek, to tell you the truth, because he could’ve just shut things down completely. But he wants to play. He’s a gamer and wants to play and wants to see whether or not the healing process can continue and he becomes a factor at some point in time during the playoffs.”
Meeting with the media on Monday, Forbort said he realized he might be in a better spot than expected the first time he stepped back on the ice, which was about three weeks after the two procedures. Prior to that, he assumed any return was going to be much further away.
“No,” Forbort said when asked if he thought he’d be back this soon. “The timeline we got from the surgeons was a little longer than what we got here.”
“What do they know?,” he added.
Forbort played Friday and Sunday in Providence’s home games against Springfield and Hartford, respectively. He skipped a Saturday trip to Bridgeport.
“Better Game 2 than Game 1,” Montgomery said when asked what the report from Providence was. “Timing was better. Talking to him, he felt like his timing was better.”
Forbort also landed a notable big hit on Sunday on Rangers prospect Brennan Othmann, so he clearly wasn’t shying away from being physical.
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“It was fine,” Forbort said of his brief AHL stint. “Just trying to get my legs back, timing, and see how it felt.”
Once Forbort does get the green light to play in NHL games again, the next question is: Should he? The Bruins’ current group of six defensemen is going pretty well right now. Their seventh defenseman, Parker Wotherspoon, also played well down the stretch, and really pretty much all season. The penalty kill, Forbort’s specialty, is doing just fine without him; its 87% success rate since the trade deadline ranks fourth in the NHL.
You can never have too many NHL-caliber defensemen come the playoffs. There are almost always injuries in any kind of deep run. At the very least, Forbort’s return adds some welcome depth. But Montgomery and his staff will have to decide if they think he offers any kind of upgrade over anyone currently in the lineup.
Forbort was not playing well before being placed on LTIR, but obviously the injuries he was dealing with were a factor in that. One of them had been lingering pretty much all season.
“It wasn’t very fun,” Forbort said of playing hurt. “But that’s hockey, and that’s the way it goes sometimes.
“One of the hardest parts was I kind of felt like the harder I worked in practice or tried to do extra stuff to get up to speed, the worse it got,” he added. “It was just kind of brutal.”
Forbort, who is an unrestricted free agent after the season, said he’s “excited” to be back on the ice with his teammates. His goal from here is simple.
“If I can get in and help the team win, that’s all that matters,” he said. “It doesn’t really matter who’s in at this time. It’s just about winning as a team.”