Photo courtesy Dan Hickling
Pat Kaleta's playing days in Buffalo may not be over just yet.
The 29 year old Angola native has been skating with his Sabres teammates as an unsigned UFA for the past month. He wears an NHLPA sweater or a gold Sabres sweater turned inside out to symbolize his status as UFA.
Given his druthers, Kaleta would love to finish his career in Buffalo. The Sabres are the only NHL team that he has ever played for. He'd love to wrap up his career in Buffalo. Right now, Tim Murray has too many forwards on his roster and there is no place for Kaleta in Buffalo.
However, Randy Cunneyworth could use a respected veteran like PK36 to help mentor the kids in Rochester this season. Kaleta and veteran Matt Ellis could certainly lead the way for prospects like Justin Bailey, Nick Baptiste, Jake McCabe, William Carrier, Andrey Makarov, and others.
A two-way contract would have a double-edge benefit to Kaleta:
He can bust his back while skating heavy minutes in Rochester and then earn the respect and attention of Dan Bylsma and Murray. Kaleta would be a no brainer injury call-up option for the Sabres. Injuries happen all the time in the NHL. Having a seasoned veteran champing at the bit to be recalled is never a bad thing for an NHL head coach and GM. Kaleta has played 360 (12 playoff games) NHL games in nine seasons in Buffalo. He has scored 27 goals and has chipped in 27 assists. He has accumulated 542 PIMs in his NHL career.
For family reasons Kaleta may want to stick and stay in the Buffalo-Rochester region. He and his wife, also a Buffalo native, exchanged their wedding vows last month. Kaleta has a large, extended family in the Buffalo area and I'm sure that he isn't ready to skate away from them just yet.
Murray expressed his interest in Kaleta on Thursday.
“I have an interest in him, for sure,… Murray said this. “I guess it depends on what the number is, on what their expectation is. There’s a lot of things that go into it. As far as Pat as a guy, as far Pat as a local guy, as far as Pat as the type of player he is to fit in the organization somewhere, I do have interest. That’s very vague, I know, and that’s about as specific as I could be.…
Murray is not a fan of handing out PTO contracts to aging vets. He won't be inviting any vets to Sabres training camp next week.
“I’m not a fan of PTOs if you’re not going to give a guy a real chance, if you just waste his time or do a favor to an agent and you’re not legitimately interested in signing him if he comes here and has a big camp,… Murray said.
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For 75 days this summer, Tim Murray talked with and sent texts to the agent for new Sabres D-man Cody Franson. The courtship reached it's conclusion when Franson signed his two year contract with the Sabres on Thursday.
Murray had a need to add another veteran defender. He targeted Franson early on in free agency in early July.
Murray had the two things that Franson could not find in Boston, Edmonton, nor Calgary:
1. Available salary cap space 2. A multi-year contract
Prior to signing this multi-year deal with Buffalo, Franson had signed three individual one year pacts with the Toronto Maple Leafs. This time around, he was looking for the security of a multi-year deal. His wish list was a five year deal for an average annual value of $5 million per season. That type of scratch and term just wasn't a reality in the summer of 2015.
“We went into free agency hoping for a long-term deal,… Franson said. “This year’s free agency was a lot different than in the past. I don’t think that’s going to change until the (Canadian) dollar goes back up to par or we expand. Once we kind of wrapped our heads around that (we started) exploring some other options. That was a bit of a tougher transition.…
Franson admitted that he and his agent were dealt a blow “to have everything kind of change was a little disheartening.…
The 28 year old offensive D-man didn't sulk or pout about the shrinking Canadian dollar nor the lack of available salary cap space in the NHL. He always knew that Tim Murray wanted him. He evaluated Murray's acquisitions of Evander Kane and Ryan O'Reilly. He was blow away by the drafting of Jack Eichel and Smason Reinhart. Having played the Sabres six times a season while with the Maple Leafs, Franson developed much respect for the grinding, relentless playing style of Zemgus Girgensons, Tyler Ennis, Matt Moulson, Marcus Foligno, Rasmus Ristolainen, Nic Deslauriers and the rest of the Sabres.
“It’s an organization that’s going in the right direction and it made my decision very easy to want to be a part of that,… he said.
Thanks, Sabres.com
Murray has already slotted Franson as a "top 4 or 5" D-man. He may well be paired up with his good buddy and training partner Josh Gorges. He will play the right point on the power play and will skate big minutes, especially in Buffalo's 41 home games. He will see a ton of offensive zone starts at home and on the road. The Sabres desperately need offense, especially from the blue line. I can see Franson accumulating 45-50 points this season. He scored a career high 36 points in 78 games played in Toronto and Nashville last season. He scored 32 points in 2013-14, 33 points in 2012-13, and 29 points in 2012-13.
The Sabres now have serious depth on their blue line.
I expect to see the following pairings:
Bogosian-Ristolainen Gorges-Franson Weber-Pysyk
To add more intrigue, free agent signees Carlo Colaiocovo and Matt Donovan will also be fighting for top six jobs in training camp. Young Jake McCabe impressed Dan Bylsma at prospects development camp in July and may well grab a top six D roster spot with an inspired prospects challenge tourney (vs. NJ and BOS) and an impressive exhibition game season.
Tim Murray may well be working on a trade that will relieve pressure in his forward and D ranks. Keep an eye out for Johann Larsson and Mike Weber. Both players have value and could be traded away in the next little while. What would Murray want in return? Murray is always looking to upgrade his D corps. Perhaps he can land a top five, left D by trading one of his forwards with one of his D-men.