For an extended period of time, one of the most talented defensemen on one of the greatest teams in the Eastern Conference is going to be absent from active duty.
Don Sweeney, the general manager of the Boston Bruins, made the announcement on Thursday that the organization has placed Derek Forbort on long-term injured reserve to recover from his injury.
Mason Lohrei, who was formerly playing with the Providence Bruins, the team’s American Hockey League affiliate, was also brought back into the fold.
It was reported that Forbort had been playing with a lower-body injury earlier in the season. According to head coach Jim Montgomery, the injury has been bothering him ever since training camp. Through the beginning of November, the injury caused the 31-year-old player to miss three games.
In the most recent game that Boston played, which was a victory over the Columbus Blue Jackets by a score of 3-1, he participated.
Because Forbort’s move to long-term inactive reserve (LTIR) is retroactive to December 7, he will not be able to play until the Boston Bruins’ game against the Detroit Red Wings on New Year’s Eve.
The Bruins’ LTI salary pool increased to $4 million as a result of the transaction, and there are currently 22 players on the active roster. Utilizable cap space for the team now stands at $2,787,500.
As a result of his many injuries, Forbort was unable to participate in a number of games during the previous season. Since November, the former Los Angeles King has been sidelined for eleven games due to a finger ailment that necessitated surgical intervention. The following month, in March, Forbort sustained an injury to his lower body, which caused him to miss the remainder of the regular season.
Forbort has only participated in 74 games since the beginning of the 2022–23 season. This statistic includes all seven of the games that Boston played against the Florida Panthers during the playoffs of the previous year. During that time period, he has had a total of 17 points.
During the course of this season, Lohrei played in ten games for Boston before being transferred to Providence shortly after Thanksgiving. During his first season in the National Hockey League, the former Ohio State Buckeye recorded a goal of his own and three assists.
With 37 points, the Boston Bruins and the New York Rangers are presently tied for first place in the Eastern Conference. There is a five-point gap between the Boston Patriots and the Florida Panthers in the Atlantic Division.
