Name: Patrick Kaleta

Picture courtesy of NHL.com

Position: Right Wing
Shoots: Right
Height: 6ft. 1in.
Weight: 200lbs.
Birth date: 6-18-86
Age: 21
Hometown: Buffalo, NY (actually Angola, NY)
acquired: drafted by Buffalo in 6th round of 2004 draft, 176 overall

Background

Kaleta is from Angola, NY which is a Southern suburb of Buffalo, NY.  Kaleta played for two seasons with St. Francis High School before being drafted by the Peterborough Petes of the Ontario hockey League.  In Peterborough Kaleta earned his way as a banger but showed some offensive skills as well.  His best season came in 2004-2005 when he scored 24 goals and 28 assists for 52 points in 62 games played.  Kaleta is a favorite of many Sabres fans because of his connection to the city.

Scouting Report

Kaleta is a player who relies on his physical play and his amazing work ethic in order to get noticed.  At 6'1" and 200 pounds he has the size to play that style of game.  He will also drop the gloves if he has to but he is not a player who is looking for a fight (a la Andrew Peters).

Performance

2006-2007 Buffalo Sabres: 7GP-0G-2A-2P
2006-2007 Rochester Americans: 58GP-5G-10A-15P

Future

Kaleta has the heart and desire to be a NHL player but he needs the physical tools to catch up.  Kaleta could some day be a third or fourth line guy in the NHL but he is probably two or three years away from being a regular player in the NHL.

On a more personal level I would love to see Kaleta do well in the NHL.  Until this point Aaron Miller is the most well known Buffalonian in the league but guys like Kaleta, Lee Stempniak, Patrick Kane, Tim Kennedy and others have an opportunity to make Buffalo become known as a hockey hotbed.  I have to say I get aggravated at people who think he is ready to be a regular because he is from Buffalo and he hits people.  Buffalo prides itself on having very knowledgeable sports fans but sometimes emotions get in the way of common sense.

note:  This is the first of the prospect profiles, which are similar to the player profiles.  Information was gathered from numerous sources including Sabres Fans.com and Hockey future.com.

Poll

Will Kaleta make the team after training camp?

50%

yes

18 votes

50%

no

18 votes

36 votes | Poll has closed