LOS ANGELES — It’s trade deadline deja vu, all over again.
On NHL trade deadline day, which is practically a national holiday in Canada but has yet to be observed officially in the United States, the Kings celebrated the same way this year as they did a year ago.
They made a trade with the Calgary Flames, shedding a depth defenseman on an expiring contract for a midround draft choice. On Monday, they sent veteran Derek Forbort to the Flames for a conditional fourth-round pick in 2021. Last year, they landed a fifth-round pick for short-term fix Oscar Fantenberg.
Flames radio analyst Peter Loubardias tweeted the conditions of the draft pick:
Conditions for Forbort. 4th round in 2021. If the Flames make it to the conference final and he plays in half the games or if they resign him it becomes a 3rd rounder in 2022. LA retains 25 percent of his Salary.
— Peter Loubardias (@fan960lou) February 24, 2020
Essentially, it completed a hectic 20 days of work for Kings general manager Rob Blake. Forbort, 27, was chosen in the first round of the 2010 NHL Draft, one pick ahead of future star Vladimir Tarasenko of the St. Louis Blues.
Forbort was on an expiring contract and the Kings have been grooming younger players in the organization to replace what he once brought to the team, primarily a physical, defensive presence.
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Internally, the Kings are high on Mikey Anderson, who is playing his first full professional season in AHL Ontario; Kale Clague, who has already played in four games with the Kings; and teenager Tobias Bjornfot, who began the season with them but has been serving an important minor-league apprenticeship.
“Obviously, defensem*n-wise, on the left side, we’re very young there,” Blake told reporters Monday, adding that it is an issue they could address in free agency this summer.
Forbort’s season has been largely undermined by injury and the fear his back issues could be chronic. Forbort’s first game of this season came Jan. 6 against the Columbus Blue Jackets. Since then, he hasn’t played more than four consecutive games in a stop-and-start return to the lineup. But as an insurance policy for Calgary, he could fit the bill nicely.
The Flames had a need for someone to help on the penalty kill in the absence of Mark Giordano and Travis Hamonic, two of their top four defensem*n, which is why they were prepared to meet the Kings’ asking price for a rental.
For those wondering why Blake did not have Tampa Bay GM Julien BriseBois on his speed dial — because BriseBois appeared to be the one general manager to overpay at the deadline to get assets — there is a simple explanation. The Kings didn’t have the goods for which BriseBois was shopping.
BriseBois gave up first-round draft picks to get support players because Tampa Bay, pushing for a Stanley Cup championship after last season’s unexpected first-round loss, was targeting a specific type of player, a middle-of-the-roster forward on an attractive contract. The Kings had no players who met that specific need.
For the Kings, their larger deals happened earlier. Defenseman Alec Martinez was traded to the Vegas Golden Knights last Wednesday, right wing Tyler Toffoli was dealt to the Vancouver Canucks a week ago, and left wing Kyle Clifford and backup goaltender Jack Campbell were moved in a deal with the Toronto Maple Leafs on Feb. 5.
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The net gain for the Kings: two players, one unsigned prospect and six firm draft choices, plus one more (potentially) if Toffoli re-signs with the Canucks.
Let’s break the trade grades down, individually and then overall.
Campbell/Clifford trade: B-
Comment: It has a chance to be a B if the third-round pick upgrades to a second. In Trevor Moore, the Kings are getting someone who can play in their top 12.
There has been some suggestion that if the Kings had been more patient with Campbell, the return could have been higher.
Naturally, hindsight is 20/20. Traditionally, the goalie market at the trade deadline is soft. This season, circ*mstances changed in the final 72 hours because of a rash of injuries. Campbell might have drawn more interest on the final day because so many teams were unexpectedly shopping for help at that position (Carolina, Vancouver and Vegas, to name three). There’s no way of anticipating that, however. When it comes to goalies, usually locking in your return early is a prudent strategy.
Toffoli trade: B+
Comment: If it were possible to give an incomplete, this would be where you might want to do that because the success or failure swings on two critical contingencies. One is Tyler Madden’s development.
The unsigned prospect has an interesting backstory. His father, John Madden, was a solid defensive forward in the NHL, won two Stanley Cup titles with the New Jersey Devils and another with the Chicago Blackhawks, and won a Selke Trophy. Tyler appears to have inherited many of his father’s better hockey-playing qualities, including a high hockey IQ.
But Tyler probably needs to be in school (at Northeastern) another year to mature. A lot will depend on his development. There are scouts who believe he not only has an NHL skill set but also the hard-to-define quality known as being a winner. These intangibles are difficult to assess until the player has time to fully mature.
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The other contingency is whether Toffoli signs an extension with Vancouver, in which case the Canucks also owe the Kings a fourth-rounder in 2022.
We will know much more about this trade later, rather than sooner.
Martinez trade: B
Comment: Blake got the going rate for defensem*n. The New York Rangers’ Brady Skjei went to Carolina for a first-round pick, but he is younger and is signed for multiple years. Martinez has some miles on him and is coming off an injury. He wasn’t playing at the same level as when the Kings were winning Stanley Cup championships.
That discounted the price. On the other hand, his personality and winning resume are such that they were still able to get two second-rounders for him. That’s a solid return. No one is suggesting Vegas overpaid or the Kings took less than what the market dictated.
Forbort trade: C+
Comment: As with Martinez, Forbort’s value was discounted because of his injuries this season. He missed a big chunk of time at the start of the season and has been in and out of the lineup since then, some of it health related, some of it performance related. On the plus side, he is a big body. He has played a fair bit with Drew Doughty on the Kings’ top pairing over the years and meets a specific need for the team that acquired him.
You can reasonably guess there probably were not a lot of inquiries on him. If Forbort plays well with the Flames, there is a chance to upgrade the return because of the conditions on the pick.
Overall grade: B
Comment: Considering what the Kings had to offer, it’s a respectable return for Blake during the lead-up to the trade deadline and the deadline itself. It would have been nice if he had been able to pry another first-rounder loose the way he did with the Jake Muzzin trade last season. But none of the players he was prepared to move had the value Muzzin did.
(Top photo of Derek Forbort: Jake Roth / USA TODAY Sports)
