There’s no doubt that there’s a portion of his game to like. His “lightning” (pun fully intended) quick release has been mystifying goalies even before February 15, 2008 when he beat Mikka “Ruslan Fedotenko‘s Dream Netminder” Kipprusoff for his first NHL goal. Yes, Edward “Teddy” Purcell has always known how to shoot and has proven to be a devastating finisher when paired with an elite puck distributor.
Purcell has the size at 6’3″, 203 lbs to be a force on the rink. His offensive numbers are trending upwards, with 17/24/51 in 2010/2011 and 21/45/65 in 2011/2012. He has shown big league durability, playing 81 games in each of the past two seasons. He showed that he could thrive in Guy Boucher’s regimented offensive system and has a knack for scoring power play goals, as well as freeing up occasional space for the patented Steven Stamkos right circle one timer. Yet, you can sense the impending BUT more than the inevitable Evgeni Malkin goal when the Bolts face the Pens. (Photos/Susan Ferlita)
Dean Lombardi, on his way to building a cup winner only years later, deemed Purcell expendable, swapping him and a fourth round pick for journeyman Jeff Halpern. This was enough of a deadline day steal for Brian Lawton to later claim this trade as his most successful act as Bolts GM (the ineptitude of Lightning GMs, excluding Jay Feaster, is a post for another day). Why would the Kings give up on Purcell, who had made his NHL debut only two years earlier? The deeper the inspection of the numbers, the more reasonable Lombardi looks.
Purcell never was a two way forward, suffering mightily in the defensive end 
of the game, logging a minus four rating and a minus nine in his last seasons in LA. Though his dedication to defense improved in Guy Boucher‘s system, his rating still stalled around the even mark. This season, he has taken a step back.
Still, there is a robust market in this league for offensive only, right wing snipers (Jason Pominville, Phil Kessel, Ilya Kovalchuk, Here’s looking at you). There is a large supply of these type of wingers, and though the demand is also high, simple economics dictates that a player with Purcell’s skill set should garner an average wing salary. In the modern cap age of all sports not run by Bud Selig, the most successful teams take advantage of players playing above their contracts and, IN GENERAL, make appropriate salary awards to players.
Across the bay in St Petersburg, Andrew Friedman has taken this model to the extreme and turned the Tampa Bay Rays into a perennial force in the most competitive division in baseball. All of this makes Steve Yzerman‘s decision to sign Teddy to a three year extension at $4.5 million per year million even more puzzling. Put it this way: together with oft injured, perennial underachiever Ryan Malone, Purcell will account for $9 million in Lightning salary, roughly 14 percent of the expected 2013/2014 cap. Purcell simply does not have the complete game to merit this type of salary in today’s NHL, where the cap is expected to drop to 64.3 million next year. His inflated value, coupled with initial shortcomings of the Anders Linback experiment and the failures of Guy Boucher to make a long standing connection in the locker room and the unraveling of the success of his system, are indications that Steve Yzerman may not be the same prodigy as a GM as he was a player for the Detroit Red Wings.
Though it is not unreasonable that Purcell could elevate his play to merit his contract, it is not the most likely outcome. The Lightning certainly have many compelling roster moves to make this off-season such as who to amnesty (Vincent Lecavalier, Martin St. Louis and Ryan Malone all seem like good options) and how to upgrade and add youth to the blue line.
The Bolts should shop Purcell for a package of picks and raw, youthful talent on the blue line. Perhaps Yzerman could target Feaster’s Flames, who have been doing their best Brian Lawson Mike Milbury impression.
(Featured photo/Clydeorama)
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