Year-In-Review – 18 – Teddy Purcell

Teddy Purcell was one of the Manchester Boys who made it to the Kings roster a couple of times last season. I can’t actually remember how many times he was recalled because it seemed players were getting recalled and reassigned everyday around the third quarter of the season. The short and sweet version is that Purcell is a tall, lanky badass who won the Dudley “Red” Garrett Memorial Award for the AHL’s most outstanding rookie of the 07-08 season. His call ups to the Kings were a terrible tease by the management because our future looked too good to send back down to Manchester. But send him back, they did, and while Kings fans are salivating at the thought of all those prospects everyone is name dropping, they seem to have forgotten just how awesome Purcell was last season.

With the Kings he played in 10 games getting 1 goal, 2 assists for 3 points, ended at a +2, and had no PIM. The moment he stepped out onto the ice in a Kings jersey, he has impressed. He’s got some skills with the puck and definitely showed LA why he was the AHL’s badass rookie of the year. I’m still amazed that he went undrafted and that the Kings actually got him! I know this review is for only this past year, but it’s difficult to look only at this year when I know his potential is sky high. One thing I noticed was that Purcell got the majority, if not all, of his ice time at even strength with the Kings. I’m wondering if he played on specialty teams while in Manchester because I thought that he deserved some time there with the Kings because he was doing really well at even strength. I really don’t see any downside to his being on the Kings roster. He is more than ready to be in LA next season and I absolutely cannot wait.

While with Manchester he played in 67 games accumulating 25 goals and 58 assists for a whopping 83 points; he ended even in the plus/minus column and had 34 PIM. He went to the AHL All-Star Classic where he was able to display his awesomeness on an even bigger scale. He recorded a hat trick AND got the game-winner in the shootout, which eventually led to him being named the game’s MVP. In the Calder Cup playoffs, he played in 4 games getting 0 goals, 3 assists for 3 points. Interestingly, he ended at a -9, but thinking back on it, the Monarchs were full of rookies and they were playing the best team in the AHL (Providence Bruins) in that first and only round. And, hey, it’s the Kings; having a horrible +/- is normal.

This Newfoundland boy is going to be on the roster next year and I have a feeling that he’s going to be on the right wing of the 2nd line. It’s hard to see him NOT being in the top six forwards. His skill level is too high to be placed any lower than that. This actually presents an interesting phenomenon that I don’t think I’ve seen before on a line; this is with Jarret Stoll taking the 2nd line center position. Alexander Frolov, Stoll, and Purcell are all right-handed shots. And really, that’s going be the hottest line in the NHL. Hands down. I’m gonna have to make sure my panties don’t fall off when they hit the ice.

Good god....