Canucks’ Derek Forbort takes leave of absence for personal reasons

The Vancouver Canucks announced Thursday that defenseman Derek Forbort has left the team for personal reasons, leading them to call up defenseman Erik Brannstrom from their AHL affiliate, the Abbotsford Canucks.

The Athletic reporter Rick Dhaliwal says it doesn’t sound like it will be long term and Forbort could be back in a few days.

Now entering his 10th NHL season, the 32-year-old Forbort has one assist in three games, averaging 16:53 of ice time. He signed a one-year, $1.5 million contract with the Canucks on July 1.

Through 10 seasons, Forbort has 17 goals and 79 assists for 96 points in 499 career regular-season games with the Canucks, Boston Bruins, Winnipeg Jets, Calgary Flames and Los Angeles Kings.

Drafted No. 15 overall by the Kings in the 2010 NHL Entry Draft, Forbort found success with the U.S. National Under-18 Team in the United States Hockey League, scoring four goals and 10 assists for 14 points in 26 games. After being drafted, he would enroll at the University of North Dakota, where in three seasons he would score six goals and 39 assists for 45 points in 115 regular-season games.

After spending chunks of three seasons with the Kings’ AHL affiliate, the Manchester Monarchs, where he would help the club win a Calder Cup in 2014-15, Forbort would eventually join L.A. full time in 2016-17. His two best statistical years were that season and 2017-18, where he would finish with 18 points and average more than 20 minutes of ice time.

The Canucks are 0-1-2 with two points through their first three games. They will face the defending Stanley Cup champions in the Florida Panthers Thursday night. Puck drop is at 7 p.m. ET.