They love Forbort and won't scratch him so I don't think Lohrei is coming up. Odd move, we'll see what happens.

Forbort playing the 4th most minutes and gets most D zone starts. Not sure why you’d bench him over Grizz or shattenkirk

Usage does not equal effectiveness. Forbort is the worst D on the team and a liability at 5v5. Shattenkirk was fine the past few years so he should keep his level and Grzelcyk's a top4 D.

If he’s liability why does he get so many D zone starts? Griz gets shelters minutes and doesn’t play special teams. I’m sure you know more than the coaches

Don't think Lohrei is coming up. Would assume Zboril comes up and/or Heinen gets signed and Brown also goes down

Realistically, I only really see Lohrei coming up if there is an injury or Gryz is traded

This one is a bit of a head-scratcher. 6-0-0 so let's make a roster move.
That said, Mitchell is a liability. Two games against the Ducks and Hawks, two of the worst teams in the league, and his underlying metrics are abysmal.

Again, just because a coach uses a player in a certain way, it doesn't mean the player is doing well in that situation. Coaches regularly take bad decisions and it is why they eventually get fired. If not, why do they lose their jobs if they know everything? I didn't say I know more, but assuming a coach is flawless/infaillible doesn't work. For Forbort, it's been evident after multiple seasons. He kills most offense as he isn't a good transition player or in o-zone and is inconsistent defensively at 5v5. On top of that, he has dragged down nearly every partner he's had while playing in a great defensive system. The team get outshot, outchanced and outplayed with him on the ice.

Sheltered or optimized, it's all about perspective. I'd argue Grzelcyk is the latter as they keep him for offensive situations and playing with McAvoy (a really good pairing). Sure, he struggles against bigger players but, overall, there's more positive value than negative. He was coming of his shoulder surgery last season although I'd argue, he should play more this season. Grzelcyk does not but, he can play on special teams. That's an important distinction. They have the depth to not require his services although McAvoy's fit on PP1 has been questionable and Lindholm hasn't been good either on the PP so giving #48 a look should be option. As for the PK, he averaged a minute in 2019-20 and did well so they could probably use him on the PK too + most of the players and their strategies/structure is great.

Forbort, on the other hand, is sheltered. He's played 3rd pair minutes against bottom-6 competition for the most part of the 2 seasons. He was fine while playing with Clifton in 2021-22 but, that pair didn't work last season and ultimately, it left no partner for Forbort. They stuck with it, they just kept winning and preserving Lindholm/McAvoy health was important so it was okay to keep him in the regular season. Unsurprisingly, he was bad in the playoffs and they scratched Clifton and Grzelcyk, who was one of the few decent D. This isn't to mention Grzelcyk and Orlov having to play on their weak-side to accommodate Forbort when both are more effective on the left. In the best-case scenario, he played 3rd pairs mins against easy competition with a good partner in great D system yet he's just okay/playable. That's sheltering.

I won't even talk about the contract. 3 good PK minutes for 12-16 mediocre/poor EV minutes, his lack of versatility and his cap hit in a flat cap era, sounds like a bad trade to me but, if they want to keep going with it as there's no chance at a good 1st round pick or the Cup, so be it.

If griz was a legit top 4 they wouldn’t have traded for Orlov. He is also propped up by McAvoy
Inserting Lohrei means have 3 D that are more offensive than defensive and lindholm has to take on a greater defensive role. If Lohrei goes in he’s playing with McAvoy and grzelcyk goes out. That’s the plan for next year and why grzelcyk isn’t signed going forward
Bruins take a lot of penalties and an average PK will lose them games this year.

Grzelcyk skill set is redundant at this point

Orlov-McAvoy didn't even work really well as they tried to force it. Unsure who you're referring to when talking about "3 that are more offensive than defensive". The most important thing is to have the six best defensemen and ideally, they're all good two-way D. Possessing the puck is the most important part of the game. Grzelcyk will probably not return but, it doesn't mean Lohrei is necessarily playing on the top pair nor should he. Their PK won't collapse because they take off one player, that's a lazy narrative and they've literally had success without Forbort. The Ds, the forwards, the goaltending are great and so is their overall structure. They would still be top PK team without Forbort.