The Los Angeles Kings' Dustin Brown has been slipping on the offensive side of the puck in recent years. He needs to pick it up in front of goal in a make or break season.
In the summer of 2013 Dustin Brown, signed an eight-year contract extension worth with an added $47 million. Since the beginning of the 2013/14 season, the now 31-year-old’s production has gone down tremendously. While his assists have gone up, Brown’s goal output has reduced a ton since his prime.
Brown’s early years
The former Los Angeles Kings captain got drafted by the team in 2003 and has been there ever since. He saw playing time in his rookie season, but did not play a whole lot. Brown appeared in only 31 games, finding the back of the net once while adding four assists to his name.
Dustin Brown really took off as a professional in his second full season with the Los Angeles Kings. While he did not play all 82 games, missed just two, Brown managed double digit goals and assists. The next season, Brown solidified himself as an everyday player with the way he played the game. Brown’s main priority was to get his line mates involved in the action as he tried to find them with pinpoint accurate passes.
Then, Brown's offense skyrocketed. In the 2007/08 season, Dustin Brown had his best season in terms of scoring goals. For the first, and only time, in his career, Brown scored more than 30 goals, ending the season with 33. His assist rate was also impressive, racking up 27 of those, finsihing with 60 points on the season.
Since then though, the goals and overall point totals have dropped. Dustin Brown has not scored 20 goals since the 2011/12 season and barely cracked double digits in the previous two seasons.
Removal of captaincy
Something needed to happen in the leadership department and Darryl Sutter decided to remove Dustin Brown as captain. As a result, he awarded Anze Kopitar after being Brown's assistant for the last couple of years. Is this the spark that Dustin Brown needs? Hopefully.