Patrick Kaleta back for Sabres' morning skate.
Kaleta should play tonight but if he doesn't Jochen Hecht could make his season debut. Kaleta has two goals and 34 PIM in 16 games this season.
Patrick Kaleta News
Suspension
Four games for Kaleta.
No use have him eating up a roster spot, find a replacement
Patrick Kaleta has quite the welt under his right eye but is otherwise unscathed from the hit he took Wednesday night from Thomas Vanek. He praticed fully.
Over his four professional seasons, Kaleta failed to play more than 55 games. The 25-year-old recently committed himself to staying healthy but likely misses some time following this practice incident. Expect similar games played along with close to 100 PIM and up to 15 points for the season.
"He's shaken but I think he's gonna be OK," Ruff said of Kaleta. "He got a little bit of a shot to the head there. Whether Van leaned in too much or Patty came in with too much momentum, you don't want anybody hurt in practice."
Over his four professional seasons, Kaleta failed to play more than 55 games. The 25-year-old recently committed himself to staying healthy but likely misses some time following this practice incident. Expect similar games played along with close to 100 PIM and up to 15 points for the season.
A lot of my injuries come from decision making. I've worked pretty hard at that part of my game. New equipment is going to be coming in for me to help out with injuries that could be prevented.
Kaleta will try and play his first full NHL season after missing countless games over his 5-year career. His high end would be 10 goals and 100 PIM, keep that in mind if you need to plug a roster spot.