Patrick Kaleta is at it again as he has just been handed down a four game suspension for headbutting Jakub Voracek during the first period of the Flyers game on Wednesday night. Here is the explanation video from the Senior Vice President of Player Safety, Brendan Shanahan:
We really have no argument with this explanation because for the first time in a long time, there is an explanation. This quote from Shanahan at the 1:15 mark of the video really sums up the whole situation: “This recent history of ramming his head into the face of his opponents, regardless of whether he is trying to free the puck, leads us to believe that this act was intentional.” Kaleta will be eligible to return against the Boston Bruins on November 12th.
With Kaleta now out of action, the Sabres are going to have to do something to replace him. With Ennis and Hecht still on the mend, the Sabres may have to call someone up from Rochester to replace Kaleta. The Americans are being led in offense by Derek Whitmore with eight points and Corey Tropp and Zack Kassian with seven points. Kassian is going to be a fan favorite to see in the lineup as well because Kassian plays his game much like Kaleta does but with more scoring finesse. The Sabres don’t have a lot of cap space either, according to CapGeek it is at $54,643, so the other option for the team could be just playing Marc-Andre Gragnani on the wing for the four games.
So who would you like to see replace Kaleta for the next four games.