JT, I'm kind of proud of you right now. Though misguided, for once you are wearing your emotions, and not your stats, on your sleeve.
Besides some notion of applaudibly fanciful dreams of the innocent that have you projecting undeserved greatness upon Purcell, there is no reason to expect that we lost something of great importance.
... Don't know where I said Purcell will achieve greatness, but Purcell at 24 will almost certainly become a better player given experience. He has played a little over a season's worth of games in the NHL -- for all intents and purposes, a little more experienced than a rookie. He averaged low 3rd line to high 4th line minutes per game this season, and never given an opportunity to fully gel with any of the lines he played on. Yet with all that, and with the low amount of points he scored, he never hurt the team while he was on the ice. He was developing other facets of his game, like board play and defense, so that he was contributing to the team in other ways besides scoring. There's no reason to believe that overall progress won't continue.
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Originally Posted by JDM
this move is to help with the playoffs, which there is zero admissable evidence to suggest Purcell would be of bigger boon value than Halpern.
... Halpern is one of the worst players on a non-playoff team. He's 33. So, where Purcell is almost certainly going to improve, Halpern will do nothing but stagnate or decline. Halpern has no experience playing with anyone on this team -- whereas if Purcell was plugged in to fill a spot, at least there's the knowledge there might be some cohesiveness within a few shifts. If anything, this move HURTS the team; makes it worse and less deep.
The Kings essentially let a young player who wasn't hurting the team go -- in order to acquire an aging player who has been hurting the team he played on up to this point. How is this "helping" with the playoffs in any way? Halpern's never been past the first round of the postseason, so you can't look to him for any leadership there, right? Did Lombardi feel like the other teams needed a handicap when playing the Kings in the playoffs, and thus decided to make the team worse?
... If you call the way Purcell was handled this season as a guy who got "plenty" of chances somehow, you're either biased or you have not the first clue of what you're talking about. Or both? Either way, what's done is done. Care to place a wager on what Halpern does in the next 20 games? Or were you just trolling again?
Are you high? Purcell was playing with Kopitar and Smyth at one point. He had every chance in the world to put it together.
... Hahaha. Well done, Dean. A guy in essence just starting out for another worthless journeyman who is at his end. Fantastic. I'm so looking forward to the games in future years where Purcell lights us up.
Don't be ridiculous. Halpern is not a "worthless journeyman." He's a legitimate 2-way, very smart, formerly a captain, only 33 and in no way "at his end."
Purcell will never be as intelligent or as well-rounded a hockey player as Halpern in his life -- not even close. Purcell cannot hit or defend or take defensive zone faceoffs or kill penalties 2 men short... AND I highly doubt he will ever come back to "light us up."
I was starting to see Purcell as a kind of second coming of Mariusz Czerkawski only not yet as skilled.
I'd much take a 33-year old Halpern into the playoffs and into next season to solidify the Kings as a multi-functional hockey team who can potentially outwork any in the NHL, thank you very much.
... Don't know where I said Purcell will achieve greatness, but Purcell at 24 will almost certainly become a better player given experience. He has played a little over a season's worth of games in the NHL -- for all intents and purposes, a little more experienced than a rookie. He averaged low 3rd line to high 4th line minutes per game this season, and never given an opportunity to fully gel with any of the lines he played on. Yet with all that, and with the low amount of points he scored, he never hurt the team while he was on the ice. He was developing other facets of his game, like board play and defense, so that he was contributing to the team in other ways besides scoring. There's no reason to believe that overall progress won't continue.
... Halpern is one of the worst players on a non-playoff team. He's 33. So, where Purcell is almost certainly going to improve, Halpern will do nothing but stagnate or decline. Halpern has no experience playing with anyone on this team -- whereas if Purcell was plugged in to fill a spot, at least there's the knowledge there might be some cohesiveness within a few shifts. If anything, this move HURTS the team; makes it worse and less deep.
The Kings essentially let a young player who wasn't hurting the team go -- in order to acquire an aging player who has been hurting the team he played on up to this point. How is this "helping" with the playoffs in any way? Halpern's never been past the first round of the postseason, so you can't look to him for any leadership there, right? Did Lombardi feel like the other teams needed a handicap when playing the Kings in the playoffs, and thus decided to make the team worse?
...Or he is what he is and will never get better. How many young guys come into the league and light it up then vanish? Purcell hasn't been able to do jack outside of a good rookie year in the AHL.
Your ellipsis account is overdrawn by the way. Just a heads up because those overdraft fees can be a real *****.
Looks like I have to go back to bagging on Ivanans again. I liked Purcell as the scratch every night, it made me not feel too bad...
All joking aside, Purcell didn't have a spot on the team. Good size, but he didn't play physical at all. He showed no confidence with the puck and every whiffed shot only brought that confidence down even further. The bottom line is the guy got his chances - I'm pretty sure he played multiple games on every line and got PP time. This year was his make or break year and he just didn't make it. We were hoping he would be a 1st or 2nd line guy but it just didn't happen. That said, I hope he excels like Moulson, not fades like Boyle. Teddy has the size and skill set to put up points in this league, it just hasn't seemed to click on how to use it.
I don't see a spot for him in the top 6, especially when Williams comes back, and I don't want him in the bottom 6, nor do I see anyone I would rather take out in place of Purcell.
I'd also like to point out that I wouldn't replace any of those guys with Patrick O'Sullivan either. And I loved Sully before we traded him.
The good news is that the Kings are starting to look like a team that can do some real damage in the playoffs. The bad news is that some of the home-grown boys we've learned to love are going to be shipped out elsewhere. That is the price we'll have to pay to bring a cup to LA - and I bet no one will be complaining about who we traded once that hardware is here
WOW...and I got **** for say that this team WILL make the playoffs five weeks ago...
Some of the things that you have said here JT are pure emotional hogwash.
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Originally Posted by JT Dutch
... Halpern is one of the worst players on a non-playoff team.
Halpern was 8th in scoring while playing for TB this year. Hardly, ONE OF THE WORST.
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He's 33. So, where Purcell is almost certainly going to improve, Halpern will do nothing but stagnate or decline. Halpern has no experience playing with anyone on this team -- whereas if Purcell was plugged in to fill a spot, at least there's the knowledge there might be some cohesiveness within a few shifts. If anything, this move HURTS the team; makes it worse and less deep.
This is just stupid. Someone with Halperns MO will have no problem building chemistry with the players on this team. As a few fans from the TB boards have said, Halpern can be placed on any line and help that line out. And just in case you have already forgotten, we still have 20 more games to play before the Playoffs. I think that that is plenty of time for Harper to build some chemistry with this team. Something that Teddy "ballgame" was NEVER able to do.
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The Kings essentially let a young player who wasn't hurting the team go--
This point can be argued, and rather fairly might I add. A player that is expected to be a top six guy scoring bottom 6 numbers is a problem, and DOES hurt the team.
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--in order to acquire an aging player who has been hurting the team he played on up to this point.
Prove it! Have you seen him play? As stated above, according to many TB fans, the boy can only help this team out.
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How is this "helping" with the playoffs in any way? Halpern's never been past the first round of the postseason, so you can't look to him for any leadership there, right?
Maybe you are forgetting, but Teddy has NEVER seen the postseason. And Harper is now ANOTHER player on this team that has seen the dance. This only is worth the trade in and of itself.
To trade dead weight for a solid fourth line PK specialist who is good in the Faceoff circle is HUGE. Just think about it. When we are in the third period and the Kopi line is tired and the Harper line is out there...the puck is in our zone and we need a HUGE faceoff win to clear the zone and hold the other team at bay while our star players are resting, is HUGE. Show me where Teddy can do that. Are you telling me that that kind of senario is NOT valuable to this team?
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Did Lombardi feel like the other teams needed a handicap when playing the Kings in the playoffs, and thus decided to make the team worse?
The only argument that you can have is that the 3rd was a bit of a overpayment. But then again, I thought the same thing about Richardson for a 2nd when that trade went down. But now I wouldn't hesitate to make that trade again.
The bottom line is that Harper fills a need that the PLAYOFF team needs filling, that Teddy will NEVER be able to fill.
JT, I'm kind of proud of you right now. Though misguided, for once you are wearing your emotions, and not your stats, on your sleeve.
Besides some notion of applaudibly fanciful dreams of the innocent that have you projecting undeserved greatness upon Purcell, there is no reason to expect that we lost something of great importance.
(Paraphrasing) "Because Olli Jokinen scored on us" is not a real reason.
this move is to help with the playoffs, which there is zero admissable evidence to suggest Purcell would be of bigger boon value than Halpern.
...Well that's because Purcell has no stats unless you want to count the AHL.
Right now it doesn't look like Purcell is going to light anybody up. He doesn't play the role of a bottom sixer well, and he isn't gritty and tough enough to be a top six on the Kings. I think he should be thanking Lombardi for finding him a new home.
I'll take our chances in the future that with Simmonds, Richardson, Moller, Loktionov, Schenn, etc. that some how Lombardi will find a player that can fill Purcell's shoes.
Of course JT is still bemoaning the Cammalleri trade and that has turned out exactly as Lombardi predicted. Cammalleri is a very expensive and very good player on a not so good team.
I'm sure Purcell will do much better now but he didn't have a role on this team. The third rounder hurts quite a bit when you compare what comparable players were traded for but we can't stockpile picks and prospects forever.
The plus is that the 3rd was FLA's and the Kings still has there 3rd.
"But at the same time, to go to L.A., where they have a good team, (you) have the chance to play for a team that has a good shot at making an impact in the playoffs and win a Stanley Cup."
WOW...and I got **** for say that this team WILL make the playoffs five weeks ago...
Some of the things that you have said here JT are pure emotional hogwash.
Halpern was 8th in scoring while playing for TB this year. Hardly, ONE OF THE WORST.
This is just stupid. Someone with Halperns MO will have no problem building chemistry with the players on this team. As a few fans from the TB boards have said, Halpern can be placed on any line and help that line out. And just in case you have already forgotten, we still have 20 more games to play before the Playoffs. I think that that is plenty of time for Harper to build some chemistry with this team. Something that Teddy "ballgame" was NEVER able to do.
This point can be argued, and rather fairly might I add. A player that is expected to be a top six guy scoring bottom 6 numbers is a problem, and DOES hurt the team.
Prove it! Have you seen him play? As stated above, according to many TB fans, the boy can only help this team out.
Maybe you are forgetting, but Teddy has NEVER seen the postseason. And Harper is now ANOTHER player on this team that has seen the dance. This only is worth the trade in and of itself.
To trade dead weight for a solid fourth line PK specialist who is good in the Faceoff circle is HUGE. Just think about it. When we are in the third period and the Kopi line is tired and the Harper line is out there...the puck is in our zone and we need a HUGE faceoff win to clear the zone and hold the other team at bay while our star players are resting, is HUGE. Show me where Teddy can do that. Are you telling me that that kind of senario is NOT valuable to this team?
The only argument that you can have is that the 3rd was a bit of a overpayment. But then again, I thought the same thing about Richardson for a 2nd when that trade went down. But now I wouldn't hesitate to make that trade again.
The bottom line is that Harper fills a need that the PLAYOFF team needs filling, that Teddy will NEVER be able to fill.
I hope Teddy all the best.
Time to move on.
I agree with your entire post, except who is harper?
I think (and hope) that this is going to turn out being a much, much more valuable move than it even looks like right now.
In one of the main board threads, people were talking about how stacked Phoenix has become on the deadline, but one Sharks poster pointed out how lame they are down the middle. Check out our centers vs. theirs:
Kopitar
Handzus
Stoll
Halpern
Richie?
vs.
Lombardi
Hanzal
Lang
Winnik
Perrault?
I know Hanzal is grossly underrated, and Lombardi maybe a bit as well, but I like those odds.
The Kings essentially let a young player who wasn't hurting the team go -- in order to acquire an aging player who has been hurting the team he played on up to this point. How is this "helping" with the playoffs in any way? Halpern's never been past the first round of the postseason, so you can't look to him for any leadership there, right? Did Lombardi feel like the other teams needed a handicap when playing the Kings in the playoffs, and thus decided to make the team worse?
How many Tampa Bay Lightning games have you watched this season? How many games have you watched him play in his career? I remember him being a pretty good player for Dallas. They guy has scored 20 goals twice and 18 and 19 goals in other seasons.
How you came to the conclusion that Purcell is a better option for this team is beyond me. Apparently you felt our bottom six was ripe for playoff action. Something a majority of this board and Kings management disagrees with.
I swear I've never seen more crying over a 3rd round pick in my life. We already have so many prospects that we've had to let guys go. You can't keep them all. I'll go ahead and go out on a limb and say that Jeff Halpern will play more games as a King than that 3rd rounder will play for Tampa. And it is probably going to take them 3 or 4 years to figure that out.
Obvious point but worth emphasizing - what qualities do Cammalleri, Visnovsy, O'Sullivan, Purcell, and I'll throw in Grebeshkov even though he is pre-Lombardi, all have in common. All are offensive minded, finesse players who are either considered "soft" or don't have the size or demeanor to play a hard checking style.
Besides Washington, the Kings have only 17 fewer goals scored than the next highest scoring teams. I think we have the offense anyway. So, to trade the above players for the kinds of players that are helping make the Kings one of the best teams in the league has been worth it.
I like this move. Halpern shores up the 4th line and the kids get a chance to show what they can do in the post season. This team can now roll 4 lines (bye Ratis) and hopefully do some damage in April and May.
I like this move. Halpern shores up the 4th line and the kids get a chance to show what they can do in the post season. This team can now roll 4 lines (bye Ratis) and hopefully do some damage in April and May.
"But at the same time, to go to L.A., where they have a good team, (you) have the chance to play for a team that has a good shot at making an impact in the playoffs and win a Stanley Cup."
