Since you have read the book, can you explain to me how Forbort can possibly be seen as a top pairing defenseman?
By the eye test his lack of puck handling skills are very apparent. In his own zone, he struggles to make a tape to tape pass, often sending passes into the skates of the receiving forward and this leads to prolonged time in the defending zone. He also struggles with a heavy forecheck, choosing to chip the puck to an empty area when pressured, again leading to the team as a whole struggling to break out of the zone. His inconsistencies in this area are an extreme hindrance to the team being able to navigate the neutral zone and complete a successful zone entry. Once in the offensive zone his lack of puck moving skills becomes apparent once more, any attacking time is generally ended when the puck comes to him. Again, under pressure he typically reverts to a safe play which is to dump the puck to an empty area, either down the boards or behind the net. This leads to a 50/50 battle and ends any threat.
By the numbers, his drag on the team possession wise is also very apparent. His CF% is the worst among defensemen on the team who have played more than 50 minutes at 46.16%, same with SCF% he is worst on the team with 44.48%. His rel in every possession stat is negative. Beyond that look at his WOWY with Doughty, across the board Doughty see about a 5% drop in possession when paired with Forbort.
By the results, we see that Forbort is struggling to keep the puck out of the net. His 41.03 ES GF% is 2nd worst among blue liners on the team with more than 50 minutes, just beating out Dion.
Now, some of this can be explained by deployment and playing a lot of minutes on a **** team, but that is my point. He certainly has defensive skill and he also has great reach when defending, but he should not be on the top pair dragging down the 11 million dollar man. He needs to be sheltered on the 3rd pairing with a young puck mover, basically a modern Matt Greene.
