Canucks sign defenceman Derek Forbort to one-year, $2 million extension

On Tuesday, Vancouver Canucks General Manager Patrik Allvin announced that defenceman Derek Forbort has signed a one-year, $2 million contract extension with the team.

Forbort originally signed with the Canucks on July 1st, 2024, on a one-year, $1.5 milion deal, as a free agent coming from the Boston Bruins. Forbort played through another injury-riddled year this season, having missed time due to the loss of his father, a knee injury and a broken orbital bone late in the season. He finished his first season as a Canuck with 11 points in 54 games, averaging 17:06 minutes per game.

“Bringing Derek back for another season is an important move for our group,” Allvin said. “His strong defensive play and solid work on the penalty kill really helped solidify our back end this past year. Derek has a strong voice in the room and some impressive leadership qualities, and we will look to him to help our team continue to grow and improve this coming season.”

On special teams, he proved to be one of the team’s most effective penalty killers, lifting Vancouver’s unit to one of the best in the league through a healthy stretch for him from December to March. He finished the season with a 3.00 goal-against per 60 minutes played on the penalty kill, lower than any other defenceman in the league with a minimum of 100 minutes, per Canucks Insider.

Forbort was rumoured to be a possible piece for the Canucks to trade at this year’s deadline, as one of the team’s pending UFAs. Instead they opted to keep him on, as he was able to play key minutes on the penalty kill and fill in on the bottom pairing for an often injured Canucks’ blue line.

With the contract, Forbort is set to play in his eleventh NHL season next year, having been originally drafted 15th overall by the Los Angeles Kings in the 2010 draft. Since then, the 6’4″, 216 lb skater has played stints with the Kings, the Calgary Flames, the Winnipeg Jets, the Boston Bruins, and now here in Vancouver.

With the veteran locked down for another year, his leadership will be an important factor for the Canucks as they attempt to move past last season’s distractions and get back on track come this October.