Derek Forbort leaves Canucks for 'personal reasons'

Vancouver Canucks general manager Patrik Allvin announced on Thursday morning that veteran defenseman Derek Forbort has left the team for what was ascribed to "personal reasons".

In a corresponding move, the Canucks officially announced the Erik Brannstrom call-up, which was initially reported on Wednesday afternoon, though the circumstances were previously unknown until now.

To make room for Brannstrom, top center prospect Aatu Raty was sent down to the AHL Abbotsford Canucks, so the initial roster move was not an indication of the health statuses of forward Dakota Joshua or All-Star goalie Thatcher Demko.

Further to this point, Canucks insider Rick Dhaliwal posted to his X account shortly after the news was broken that Forbort's absence from the team is not currently expected to be anything long term.

"Derek Forbort has left the Canucks for personal reasons. Doesn’t sound long term. Could be back in. a few days," Dhaliwal wrote.

The sooner Forbort returns to the Canucks, the better, as Vancouver is currently heading into the second game of a four-game road trip when they face the defending Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers in Sunrise at 4 p.m.

So, even though fellow veteran defenseman Tyler Myers avoided a serious injury and did not miss any games, head coach Rick Tocchet will be forced to give Brannstrom his Canucks debut. That is, unless he decides to roll with four right shot defensemen and utilize Myers, Filip Hronek, Noah Juulsen, and newcomer Vincent Desharnais all at once.

Intuition says that Brannstrom will be the one playing at the expense of Juulsen or Desharnais, given his puck-moving exploits and the Canucks missing a player of his profile on defense behind Hronek and captain Quinn Hughes.

The Canucks have away games against the Panthers, the Flyers, and the Blackhawks over the course of the next five days.