At 6-foot-2 and 195 pounds, Purcell is not an overwhelmingly physical presence, but as a gifted shooter, passer and puck-handler he has been a consistent, complementary offensive player.

After going undrafted by NHL teams, the St. John's, Newfoundland, native signed with the Los Angeles Kings as a free agent on April 27, 2007. He made his NHL debut against the Edmonton Oilers on Jan. 15, 2008, and had three shots in a 3-1 Kings victory. He played 10 games with Los Angeles that season and had a three-game point streak that included his first NHL assist Jan. 24, 2008, on the winning goal in a 3-1 victory against the Anaheim Ducks.

Purcell scored his first NHL goal in his next game with Los Angeles, on Feb. 15, 2008, against the Calgary Flames in a 6-3 win. He shuttled between the NHL and the American Hockey League in 2008-09 and broke camp with Los Angeles to start the 2009-10 season. On March 3, 2010, he was traded with a third-round draft pick in 2010 to the Tampa Bay Lightning for Jeff Halpern.

With Tampa Bay, Purcell got his first NHL hat trick in an 8-3 win against the Phoenix Coyotes on Feb. 23, 2011, before making his Stanley Cup Playoff debut April 13, 2011, against the Pittsburgh Penguins. Purcell appeared in all 18 playoff games for the Lightning and finished third on the team in playoff scoring with 17 points (six goals). He had three assists in an 8-2 win against Pittsburgh in Game 5 of the first round, had a five-game playoff scoring streak and had two points in each of Tampa Bay's three wins against the Boston Bruins in the Eastern Conference Final.

The Lightning traded Purcell to the Edmonton Oilers for Sam Gagner on June 29, 2014. The only Oilers player to play all 82 games in 2014-15, Purcell was traded to the Florida Panthers on Feb. 27, 2016, for a third-round draft pick in 2016. He scored two goals in six playoff games for Florida before signing with the Kings as a free agent on July 6, 2016.

In 2006-07, his one season at the University of Maine, Purcell had 16 goals and 43 points in 40 games, helped the Black Bears reach the NCAA Frozen Four and was named Hockey East Rookie of the Year. The top-scoring rookie in the American Hockey League with 83 points (25 goals) for Manchester in 2007-08, Purcell had a hat trick in the 2008 AHL All-Star Classic and was the game's MVP. The next season he had five assists in the game.