Shocking rumors involving former L.A. King's Captain Dustin Brown.

It has been a rapid and jarring fall from grace for Los Angeles Kings forward Dustin Brown. Once viewed as one of the heart and soul of Kings locker room, and in fact the team's captain, Brown has since been stripped of the "C" and his performance over the past two seasons has demonstrated a stark decline.

That's not to say Brown is not a useful player, but the massive price tag he carries when compared to his production, intangibles aside, just don't match up and that as well as the message behind the removal of his captaincy, have led to some rampant speculation regarding Brown's future in L.A.

Writer Jared Clinton of The Hockey News has suggested that Brown could be a buyout target despite having another six years left to go on his current contract, a contract that Clinton calls a huge mistake.

The Kings’ cap situation isn’t exactly a favorable one and Brown’s contract, which looked like an overpayment at the time and a massive mistake now, isn’t helping at all.

The buyout would solve a lot of short term problems for the Kings, but because of the length of term remaining for Brown, the penalty down the line would be brutal. Here's on it all breaks down according to Clinton.

Buyout Details: The Kings would get relief for six seasons, ranging from $5.19 million in 2016-17 to $2.194 million in 2021-22, but then get hit with six consecutive seasons of a $1.8 million penalty.

Is the short term gain worth the long term pain for L.A.? We may find out sooner rather than later as the buyout window opens tomorrow.