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Kings’ Forbort will make NHL debut, last of ’10 first-rounders to do so

061315 comets mdd

061315 comets mdd

AP

Of the 30 players selected in the opening round of the 2010 draft, Derek Forbort has long held a most dubious distinction.

Thankfully for him, it ends tonight.

Forbort, the defenseman L.A. took 15th overall five years ago, will finally make his big league debut when the the Kings host Minnesota -- and in the process, he’ll become the last of the ’10 first-rounders to appear in an NHL contest.

“I think I always knew if I stayed the course and kept working hard and kept working on my game and developing that it would eventually come,” Forbort said, per LA Kings Insider.

Forbort was only 18 when the Kings selected him -- in front of a partisan crowd at Staples, no less. Since then, he finished out his collegiate career at North Dakota before transitioning to the American League, where he’s spent the last two seasons.

In ’14-15, he was a key figure in Manchester’s Calder Cup championship, finishing with six assists in 19 games.

A Minnesota native, Forbort looks as though he’ll replace Matt Greene in the lineup tonight against the Wild.