Buffalo Sabres Future: Does It Include Patrick Kaleta

Buffalo Sabres fans have waited for this offseason for two years. The bottom has been reached and the team is officially building toward a bright and hopefully dominant future. To do that, general manager Tim Murray has to make decisions on a number of players.

Unrestricted free agent and Angola native Patrick Kaleta is one of them. The Buffalo Sabres super pest, a sixth-round pick in the 2004 NHL Draft, has carved out his career through hard work and determination. Unfortunately for Kaleta his efforts found him off the ice as much as on it.

Kaleta played 348 games in his NHL career, racking up 54 points and 542 penalty minutes. But his Buffalo Sabres career would be limited by both injuries and suspensions. Kaleta plays on the edge and crossed it several times with time off for head butting, elbows and more.

He wouldn’t be the first player with multiple suspensions in his past to make a roster. Matt Cooke has quite the past himself. As the game evolves players have to as well and I give Kaleta the benefit of the doubt in believing he can change the way he plays to make an NHL roster, if not the Buffalo Sabres.

It’s his injury history that scares me more than anything. Playing as physical as he does, blocking shots and killing penalties takes a toll on the body. Throwing out his first season where he logged seven games, Kaleta has played in 341 of a possible 622 games in eight seasons (54.8%).

I realize some of those games are lost due to suspension but most them are not. When you factor in the NHL-imposed time off it’s hard to know if Kaleta has changed his game and learned from the events. He just isn’t on the ice enough to know.

Perhaps his teammates know Kaleta may be at the end of his Buffalo Sabres career. Mike Weber gave up the “A” on his sweater for Kaleta, providing him the chance to live out another part of his dream playing for his hometown team.

There’s a part of every fan, whether you admit it or not, that roots for a guy like Kaleta. Like all the professional athletes we cheer for, they are living a life fans only dream of. Who wouldn’t want to suit up for their hometown team? I would have loved to have been Ryan Vinz the night he got to suit up behind Jhonas Enroth.

But two years of losing the way the Buffalo Sabres have wears patience thin. The entire last season of losing was about upgrading the talent on the roster. With the offense being the focal point, it could spell the end of Kaleta who has 27 career goals.

If Kaleta has played his last game in a Buffalo Sabres uniform my feelings will be mixed about it. Not that I won’t understand the move, but I will root for him to land on another team. It’s hard for me to just write off a player that has given himself up for the team the way he has.

It’s an offseason of waiting and wondering for Patrick Kaleta. If not from the Buffalo Sabres, I hope his phone rings and he can continue his career and ultimately end it on his own terms. We all want control of our destiny. More than anything that’s what I’m rooting for when it comes to Patrick Kaleta.

Next: Buffalo Sabres History With Calder Trophy

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