Yesterday, much to our chagrin, the Los Angeles Kings seemingly gave up on Teddy Purcell. His second stint with the team paled in comparison to the first, despite much higher expectations and some history of success. Even so, was it really a good idea to risk losing a 30-40 point scorer simply because he wasn’t fitting in on the fourth line? So he hit waivers, and a number of fanbases snapped to attention.
In hindsight: I guess it wasn’t a bad idea, as no one claimed Purcell.
Purcell clears waivers. That is a contract/budget issue for other teams, I’d bet
— Elliotte Friedman (@FriedgeHNIC) December 4, 2016
Elliotte’s got a point here. A $1.6 million cap hit seems manageable, especially for a team like Ottawa, with $8 million of space. (They had the loudest call from the fans to grab Teddy.) This year, however, P.A. Parenteau is the only player with a cap hit above $1 million to be claimed off waivers, and he’s only at $1.25 million. Plus, he was waived at the start of the season, when teams were a bit more flexible.
- 10/9/2016: Martin Frk (waived by Detroit Red Wings, picked up by Carolina Hurricanes)
- 10/11/2016: Mike Condon (waived by Montreal Canadiens, picked up by Pittsburgh Penguins)
- 10/11/2016: Seth Griffith (waived by Boston Bruins, picked up by Toronto Maple Leafs)
- 10/11/2016: Klas Dahlbeck (waived by Arizona Coyotes, picked up by Carolina Hurricanes)
- 10/11/2016: Teemu Pulkkinen (waived by Detroit Red Wings, picked up by Minnesota Wild)
- 10/11/2016: P.A. Parenteau (waived by New York Islanders, picked up by New Jersey Devils)
- 10/13/2016: Emerson Etem (waived by Vancouver Canucks, picked up by Anaheim Ducks)
- 10/24/2016: Ben Smith (waived by Colorado Avalanche, picked up by Toronto Maple Leafs)
- 11/1/2016: Martin Frk (waived by Carolina Hurricanes, picked up by Detroit Red Wings)
- 11/12/2016: Seth Griffith (waived by Toronto Maple Leafs, picked up by Florida Panthers)
- 11/21/2016: Matthew Puempel (waived by Ottawa Senators, picked up by New York Rangers)
- 12/3/2016: Reid Boucher (waived by New Jersey Devils, picked up by Nashville Predators)/
Teams simply weren’t willing to squeeze Purcell and that cap hit in based on two points in 12 games. This is good news. LA doesn’t lose a potential contributor for free, and Purcell probably remains the first man in if a top-nine forward gets hurt. Unfortunately, all of those guys are back now, so we might be seeing Purcell on a long Ontario vacation.