Los Angeles Kings: Grading the Trade Deadline

Derek Forbert traded to the Calgary Flames: C+

On trade deadline day, the Los Angeles Kings made only one trade sending defensemen Derek Forbert to the Calgary Flames for a 2021 conditional fourth-round pick.

The pick becomes a third-round pick in 2022 if the Flames make the Conference Finals or they re-sign Forbert. The Kings did retain 25 percent of the remaining years on Forbert’s contract. Forbert was the Kings’ 15th pick in the 2010 NHL draft and had played his entire career with the Kings.

With the Kings having a down year and being a bottom-five defensive team losing Forbert is a blip in the team’s future plan. This was the one move that fans on social media agreed with as Forbert was seen as a scapegoat for everything wrong with the team defense.

Blake again added to his asset pool and the fact that they got anything for Forbert is a plus in his column.

Overall Grade: B+

Rob Blake did what had to be done and started the teardown to continue the rebuilding process for the team. The amount of assets he collected and coming away with the forward depth and a prospect is a solid trade period for him as a general manager.

Ultimately he will be judged by the future success of this team, and how well he can do picking the right prospects with all the picks he’s accumulated.

This trade deadline represented the end of the best era in Kings’ history, the previous Stanley Cup titles are now in the rearview mirror. The past is prologued it’s time to focus on the future.