The Los Angeles Kings have agreed to trade Derek Forbort to the Calgary Flames in exchange for a fourth-round pick.

LAK will get a 4th RD pick from Calgary for Forbort — Pierre LeBrun (@PierreVLeBrun) February 24, 2020

Kings Trade Derek Forbort to Calgary

The Los Angeles Kings completed a trade Februray 24th with the Calgary Flames. The Flames acquired defenceman Derek Forbort in exchange for a fourth-round pick.

Derek Forbort Now a Calgary Flame

The Flames are getting a surprisingly smooth-skating defender with great size (6′-4″) in Derek Forbort. He’ll be looking to get to his regular game after finally returning to the NHL on January 6th. An off-season back injury caused him to miss half the season. He has slowly regained his usual second-pair position since coming back, and that’s what Calgary will be looking for.

Forbort’s well suited for the playoffs, specializing in blocking shots and providing hits. He can also move the puck reasonably well, though he generally stops worrying about it once it’s out of danger.

This season is a bit of a washout for him, but he normally averages 20 minutes a game with between 15 and 20 points in a season. He’s also a solid penalty killer, using his skating to stay in shooting lanes and size to clear the net-front.

He was originally drafted by the Kings 15th overall in the 2010 draft, seasoning in the AHL before being called up in 2014-15. The 14 games he played that year was enough to win a permanent place in the NHL since.

What This Means for the Future

With the Kings moving Forbort, they are officially throwing in the towel on playoffs in the near future. The 27-year-old is exactly the kind of player playoff teams want to stock up on before the wars begin. Still, that’s a good reason to move him now when his return will be at it’s highest. The Kings were unlikely to re-sign the unrestricted free agent, as his age and skill level don’t play into a rebuilding team.

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