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3 Last-Minutes Roster Moves the Bruins Need to Make Before the Season

By Devon Platana

The Boston Bruins must make these three roster moves before the 2023-24 NHL season begins.
The Boston Bruins must make these three roster moves before the 2023-24 NHL season begins. / Joel Auerbach/GettyImages
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2. Get Rid of Derek Forbort

The Bruins have a handful of players duking it out for the bottom two defensive pairings, including Derek Forbort.

The 31-year-old D-man joined Boston on a three-year, $9 million contract back in July 2021. While he's had some decent moments here and there, his play often frustrates Bruins fans — with his disastrous playoff performance being the most recent example.

Fortbort's shortcomings are made clearer once you look at his advanced stats. While he finished 2022-23 with an even on-ice goal differential, MoneyPuck lists his expected on-ice goal differential at minus-16.3 — the worst among Boston D-men, by far.

In other words, Forbort often got bailed out by his goalies and his stats would've been much worse if that wasn't the case.

While the summer off helps some players get their heads back on track, Forbort hasn't looked much better in the preseason. The Bruins hadn't allowed a power-play goal in the preseason until they dressed Forbort on Tuesday. Making matters worse is that he was on the ice for two PP goals.

With Boston getting strong play from the likes of Ian Mitchell and rookie Mason Lohrei during the exhibition slate, Forbort has also become expendable. There's just no way that GM Don Sweeney can justify keeping a $3 million liability like Forbort on the roster when there are better, cheaper options available.

Even if it takes a draft pick or prospect to get a team to take him off our hands, it'll be worth it. The Bruins are a better team when Forbort isn't playing and we have to keep it that way.