Welcome back to another Vancouver Canucks 2024–25 report card. In this series, The Hockey News - Canucks site discusses the 2024–25 seasons of active Canucks who played at least 10 games with Vancouver. Today, we’ll be taking a look at how Derek Forbort performed in the 2024–25 season.
In a season full of turmoil for the Canucks, Forbort quietly had an impressive season, stapling himself to Vancouver’s blueline as one of the team’s most consistent defensive defenders. A free-agent signing in 2024, Forbort came in to fill the spots left by Nikita Zadorov and Ian Cole. He recently re-upped his tenure in Vancouver by a year, signing a one-year contract extension worth $2M — $500k more than what he initially signed for the season prior.
The start of the season was difficult for Forbort for more than one reason, as he dealt with both the passing of his father and a knee injury. He played four games in October to November, during which he tallied one assist, and returned to the lineup full-time on December 12 alongside J.T. Miller. Forbort ended the season with two goals and nine assists in 54 games.
Forbort’s strengths this season came in the amount of minutes he tackled while on the penalty kill, despite his average overall time on ice per game being the lowest he has recorded in his career since his rookie season in 2015–16. Even after missing 28 games, Forbort still finished the season with the sixth-most minutes played on the penalty kill (fourth most of players still on the Canucks). He blocked the third-most shots while on the penalty kill with 12, coming after only former Canuck Noah Juulsen (22) and Tyler Myers (20).
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Despite only being with the Canucks for one season at the time, Forbort was also depended on by Vancouver from a leadership perspective. The defenceman, who was drafted back in 2010 and will be entering his 11th NHL season at the start of the 2025–26 season, wore an “A” for the Canucks at various points this year. With the changes that Vancouver’s locker room endured throughout the year, Forbort’s stable presence as a veteran blueliner was much-needed.
Re-Signing Derek Forbort Is A Low-Risk, High-Reward Move By The Canucks
The Vancouver Canucks solidified their defence on Tuesday as they re-signed 33-year-old Derek Forbort. The left-shot defender agreed to a one-year contract extension, which will carry a cap hit of $2 million. Overall, bringing back Forbort is a low-risk, high-reward move which will benefit the Canucks during the 2025-26 season.
Forbort’s 2024–25 season came to a swift end after Vancouver’s April 12 match against the Minnesota Wild — only two games before the Canucks’ final game of the year. After fighting Wild forward Yakov Trenin, Forbort ended up on the receiving end of an extra punch that broke his orbital bone and forced him out of the game. With this disappointing end to his season, Canucks fans will be interested in seeing how Forbort’s second year with Vancouver shakes out. As for the 2024–25 season, Forbort gets a B+ for the exemplary play he demonstrated in a role that the Canucks will need him in come 2025–26.
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