Waived Kaleta Heads To AHL

The Patrick Kaleta issue is turning into a story which won't go away.

After Kaleta's ten game suspension for his hit 'n Jack Johnson ran out, the Buffalo Sabres decided to place him on waivers, rather than allow him to return to the team. No other teams were in the market for the 27 year old so today he was assigned to the AHL's Rochester Americans.

So what's next for the suspension prone forward? Aside from a big slice of humble pie, Kaleta has a good chance to turn his career around, although taking Matt Cooke's offer of help is probably best avoided. 

This is mixed news for the Amerks, currently 11th in the Western Conference. Kaleta, when he's on his game is a handy right winger. The Angola, NY native last plated for the Amerks in the 07/08 season. Scoring one goal, and 109 penalty minutes in 29 games. 

For Kaleta to turn over a new leaf, he's going to need to perform like an angel game after game. This here presents an issue. The Amerks aren't exactly short of forwards. He'll have to fight with Johnny McGuire, Jonathan Parker, Jamie Tardif and Alex Hutchings (not literally though!) to get a spot at the table. 

Given that Kaleta missed 15 games through suspension in 2013, he needs to rethink his game if he wants to see the NHL again. Despite no longer being a Sabre, Sabres coach Ron Ralston has had positive things to say about Kaleta. “I think he’s a good heart-and-soul player for us, good teammate, plays hard, competitive, been good on the penalty kill,”. 

GM Darcy Regier also had something constructive to say: “I think there is a significant amount of work that he will have to do to redesign his game in order to give him an opportunity to play. When we talked about it internally, if it was with us, it had to take place in Rochester.”

It definitely sounds like if Kaleta knuckles down in the AHL, then he still has a future in the NHL. It will be really interesting to see what happens in a year when his contract runs out. 

As an aside, I bet John Scott has just gone very quiet.