Lombardi believes making Kopitar captain will help Brown find his game
Making Anze Kopitar captain of the Los Angeles Kings was as much about Dustin Brown as it was about the Slovenian.
It's Kopitar's time to lead the club, general manager Dean Lombardi said Thursday, and it's also time for Brown to once again become the integral contributor he once was for the Kings.
"I really believe (Brown's) going to get his game back," Lombardi said, according to The Associated Press' Greg Beacham. "He perfectly recognizes that for us to be successful as a team, he needs to get his game back to where he's capable. It's just about putting the grind in now to figure out how to get his game back to where it was at one time, not long ago, he was one of the best power forwards in the league."
Brown's scored only 11 goals in each of the last two seasons, totaling a combined 55 points in 164 regular-season games. He had only 27 points in 2013-14. Before the lockout-shortened 2012-13 season, Brown posted five straight seasons of 50 or more points. He was a beast.
The 31-year-old was also integral to the Stanley Cup the Kings won in 2012, scoring eight goals and adding 12 assists in 20 playoff games.
The thing is: Brown's not going anywhere. He's signed through 2021-22 at a cap hit of $5.875 million, and Lombardi said he has no plans to buy him out.
"There's this feeling in hockey that (a captaincy) is a lifetime appointment," Lombardi said. "And that's just something that's not always practical. This puts the responsibility squarely on the guys who need to assume that role right now."
Kopitar, for his part, said taking the "C" from a teammate is bittersweet, but that his relationship with Brown won't change.
"It's a little bit of sweet and sour in my mouth, just because (Brown) and I are very good friends. We've developed a strong relationship over the course of my 10 years in L.A.," Kopitar said. "I wouldn't say it's awkward. Just maybe a little bitter, but I don't think our relationship is going to change. I'm still going to need him right beside me to help me out with a lot of stuff, and hopefully we can just manage and continue working together."