Teddy Purcell

Edward Purcell (born September 8, 1985) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey right winger who played in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Los Angeles Kings, Tampa Bay Lightning, Edmonton Oilers and Florida Panthers. He was not drafted by any NHL team. Purcell is a current pro scout for the Montreal Canadiens.

Playing career

Amateur Purcell moved to the United States to study at and play hockey for Lake Forest Academy, a prep school north of Chicago. He then played junior hockey for the Cedar Rapids RoughRiders of the United States Hockey League (USHL), where he set the career scoring mark, scoring 138 points on 39 goals and 99 assists in two seasons. He was the team leader in scoring his first season with the RoughRiders, tallying 67 points. In his second season, he was outscored by teammate Chad Costello by one point, scoring 71 points. Undrafted by an NHL team in his first year of draft eligibility, Purcell then played one season of college hockey at the University of Maine with the Black Bears ice hockey team in 2006–07.

Professional

In 2007–08, his first professional season, Purcell played most of the year in the American Hockey League (AHL) with the Manchester Monarchs, but also played ten games in the NHL with the Los Angeles Kings. On February 15, 2008, Purcell scored his first NHL goal against the Calgary Flames' Miikka Kiprusoff at Staples Center in Los Angeles. In the AHL, he was named to the 2008 AHL All-Star Classic and became the first rookie to score an All-Star Classic hat-trick. He also scored the decisive goal in the shootout to give the Canadian All Stars a 9–8 win over the PlanetUSA All-Stars. Purcell was named the game's MVP. Finishing his rookie AHL season with 83 points in 67 games, Purcell won the Dudley "Red" Garrett Memorial Award as the AHL's top rookie. In 2008–09, Purcell split the season between the Monarchs and Kings, playing 40 games in the NHL while scoring 4 goals and 12 assists for 16 points.

At the NHL trade deadline in 2010, Purcell was traded (along with a third-round draft pick) to the Tampa Bay Lightning in exchange for forward Jeff Halpern. Purcell finished the 2009–10 season with 15 points. On July 6, 2010, new Lightning general manager Steve Yzerman re-signed Purcell (along with another former University of Maine player, Mike Lundin) to a one-year contract. Purcell then blossomed under new Lightning head coach Guy Boucher. On February 23, 2011, Purcell scored his first NHL hat trick, against the Phoenix Coyotes. He went on to finish with 51 points in the regular season, and 17 points in 18 games during the 2011 Stanley Cup playoffs.

On July 20, 2011, Purcell avoided arbitration by signing a two-year, $4.75 million contract extension with Tampa Bay just hours before his arbitration meeting. On April 7, 2012, in the Lightning's last game of the 2011–12 regular season, Purcell recorded his second career NHL hat trick, helping Tampa Bay win 4–3 in overtime. After a breakout season in which he scored 24 goals and 65 points, Purcell was named to Canada's roster for the 2012 IIHF World Championship.

On July 10, 2012, Purcell signed a three-year contract extension with the Lightning to keep him with the club through to the 2015–16 season.

On June 29, 2014, Purcell was traded to the Edmonton Oilers in exchange for Sam Gagner, who was himself immediately traded to the Arizona Coyotes.

In his second season with the Oilers in 2015–16, with the club out of contention for the Stanley Cup playoffs and in the last year of his contract, after scoring 32 points in 61 games, on February 27, 2016, Purcell was traded to the Florida Panthers in exchange for a third-round pick in the 2016 NHL entry draft.

On July 1, 2016, Purcell as a free agent opted to return to his original club, the Los Angeles Kings, signing a one-year, $1.6 million contract. In the 2016–17 season, Purcell endured an unsuccessful reunion with the Kings, contributing with just 2 assists in 12 games before he was waived and reassigned to the club's AHL affiliate, the Ontario Reign, for the remainder of the season. Purcell regained his offensive production with Ontario, collecting 38 points in as many games.

As a free agent from the Kings, and going unsigned over the summer, on September 14, 2017, it was announced Purcell had joined the Boston Bruins on a professional try-out (PTO) contract to attend training camp. After completing the pre-season with the Bruins, Purcell was released from his PTO without a contract on October 2, 2017.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs Regular season Playoffs Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM 2003–04 Notre Dame Hounds SJHL 51 21 25 46 8 — — — — — 2004–05 Cedar Rapids RoughRiders USHL 58 20 47 67 22 11 5 9 14 4 2005–06 Cedar Rapids RoughRiders USHL 55 19 52 71 14 8 3 8 11 4 2006–07 University of Maine HE 40 16 27 43 34 — — — — — 2007–08 Manchester Monarchs AHL 67 25 58 83 34 4 0 3 3 0 2007–08 Los Angeles Kings NHL 10 1 2 3 0 — — — — — 2008–09 Manchester Monarchs AHL 38 16 22 38 12 — — — — — 2008–09 Los Angeles Kings NHL 40 4 12 16 4 — — — — — 2009–10 Los Angeles Kings NHL 41 3 3 6 4 — — — — — 2009–10 Tampa Bay Lightning NHL 19 3 6 9 6 — — — — — 2010–11 Tampa Bay Lightning NHL 81 17 34 51 10 18 6 11 17 2 2011–12 Tampa Bay Lightning NHL 81 24 41 65 16 — — — — — 2012–13 Tampa Bay Lightning NHL 48 11 25 36 12 — — — — — 2013–14 Tampa Bay Lightning NHL 81 12 30 42 14 4 1 0 1 0 2014–15 Edmonton Oilers NHL 82 12 22 34 24 — — — — — 2015–16 Edmonton Oilers NHL 61 11 21 32 10 — — — — — 2015–16 Florida Panthers NHL 15 3 8 11 2 6 2 0 2 0 2016–17 Los Angeles Kings NHL 12 0 2 2 0 — — — — — 2016–17 Ontario Reign AHL 38 10 28 38 2 5 0 2 2 2 2017–18 Avangard Omsk KHL 21 3 9 12 4 7 1 4 5 4 NHL totals 571 101 206 307 102 28 9 11 20 2

International Year Team Event Result GP G A Pts PIM 2012 Canada WC 5th 8 1 1 2 0 Senior totals 8 1 1 2 0

Awards and honours Award Year USHL Clark Cup Championship (Cedar Rapids RoughRiders) 2005 College All-Hockey East Rookie Team 2007 AHL All-Rookie Team 2008 First All-Star Team 2008 Dudley "Red" Garrett Memorial Award 2008 All-Star Game 2008, 2009