The captain of the defending Stanley Cup champions is going overseas, as Dustin Brown of the Los Angeles Kings is signing with Zurich of the Swiss League.
"Big part of it for me is just to play, I need to play and stay in shape," Brown told TSN Hockey Insider Pierre LeBrun on ESPN.com Friday. "I've been having those skates with guys, it's served its purpose for a while, but I need to play."
Brown chose Zurich because of his familiarity with Marc Crawford, who coached him in L.A. and because he found it to be a good place to move his wife and kids to if it ends up that there's no NHL season this year.
"Long term if I'm there for the full season, I'd be comfortable bringing my family to Zurich," Brown said. "If I'm going to play overseas and if we're not going to have an NHL season - if that's the case - then I wanted an opportunity to bring my kids over and have a smooth situation for them in terms of school and things like that."
Brown, 27, scored 22 goals and 54 points in 82 regular season games last season and tallied 20 points in 20 playoff games as the Kings won their first-ever Stanley Cup.
In 595 career NHL games, he has scored 163 goals and 359 points.
