With the Los Angeles Kings’ season over, I’ll be taking a look at each player on the team and how they performed this season. Last article, I looked at Mike Amadio's season and in this piece, I’ll be focusing on Dustin Brown.
Brown is one of the few players we’ve seen who seemed to be regressing as he entered his 30s, then actually managed to bounce back a few years later. At one point, he seemed destined to be bought out but now at 35 years old, Brown is one of the Los Angeles Kings' top forwards.
This season, Brown scored at a rate of 21 goals and 43 points per 82 games, marking the third season in a row where he’s scored at a rate of at least 20 goals and 40 points per 82. He played big minutes for Los Angeles once again, behind only Anze Kopitar in minutes per game at even strength and also played on the power play. He may have had the lowest corsi for percentage of any forward to play at least 20 games for the Kings but in turn, he also had the lowest offensive zone start percentage of any forward.
In Brown’s four low-production years between 2013-14 and 2016-17, in addition to seeing a huge reduction in ice time, he also had a shooting percentage of 8 per cent or less in each season, which is wildly low for a forward. However, this year he averaged just as many shots per game as the year prior and now that his shooting percentage has adjusted to a more regular number, his production is much better as a result.
Playing him in a bigger role than he should be played in also works for the Kings because it’ll drive up his value. A few years ago, nobody would want to touch Dustin Brown's contract. Now, if he can continue to produce at a decent rate, the Kings could maybe get something for him at the 2022 trade deadline as a rental, just as the majority of their young talent has settled into the NHL. That’s thinking pretty far down the road, but if the Kings were willing to retain half his salary and he was still producing, they’d probably be able to get an asset for him.
Realistically, Brown wouldn’t be a top-six forward on a competitive hockey team at this stage. But at least for next year, that's where he'll play and it’s probably not the worst thing for the Kings in their rebuild. Considering Brown is turning 36 years old this year and looking back to how he was producing a few years ago, he’s in a better spot right now than many would have anticipated. He may not have produced at the same rate as the past two years but this was still a solid season for Brown.
***NOTE: We've launched a HockeyBuzz Kings Twitter account! For anyone interested, you can follow @HB_LAKings for updates on articles, Kings news, etc. We're starting right from scratch, so any followers would be appreciated!***
Here’s today’s poll question (results and discussion will be posted in a future article):
How many points do you expect from Dustin Brown next season?
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