Kings trade Sopel to Canucks

The Kings traded defenseman Brent Sopel to the Vancouver Canucks for conditional second- and fourth-round draft picks Monday, leaving them without a player from last season’s deal with the New York Islanders.

Kings General Manager Dean Lombardi has been unloading player assets to aid in his rebuilding efforts since it became clear the team had no chance at the playoffs this season. The trade deadline is today.

Sopel, 30, was a likely candidate all along. He is in the last year of a contract that paid him $2.4 million this season and will be an unrestricted free agent.

It was at last season’s trade deadline that the Kings acquired Sopel along with forward Mark Parrish from the Islanders for defenseman Denis Grebeshkov, forward Jeff Tambellini and a conditional third-round pick. Parrish signed with the Minnesota Wild after the 2005-06 season. Sopel remained but suspected his days were numbered in recent weeks.

“You play 82 games as a warmup to the playoffs and to be out of the race as early as we were is frustrating, not only for me but all the guys on the team,” said Sopel, who has four goals and 23 points in 44 games this season.

“When you’re in one of these situations, you hear a lot of trade rumblings. I wasn’t expecting this, but I was expecting it too. It was just one of those situations where you wait and see.”

This is the Kings’ third trade in four weeks. On Jan. 29, Craig Conroy was traded to the Calgary Flames for center Jamie Lundmark along with a fourth-round draft pick in 2007 and a second-round pick in 2008. One week later, Sean Avery went to the New York Rangers for Jason Ward, plus prospects Marc-Andre Cliche and Jan Marek.

For Sopel, the Kings get a second-round draft pick in either 2007 or 2008 and a fourth-round pick in 2008 to be determined.

Lombardi will field offers until the noon PST deadline, with defenseman Aaron Miller, another unrestricted free agent, a likely trade candidate.

This is Sopel’s second tour with Vancouver. He played there from 1998 to 2004.

Said Sopel: “I never wanted to leave [Vancouver] in the first place.”

chris.foster@latimes.com