from John Vogl of the Buffalo News,

Patrick Kaleta’s dream of returning to the NHL remains strong. The upcoming birth of a son has also made leaving hockey behind a potential reality.

Kaleta, the 30-year-old Angola native who spent parts of nine seasons with Buffalo, is skating with former Sabres teammates with the goal of playing his first NHL game since April 2015. While most of his companions are assured of attending training camp this month, Kaleta is an unrestricted free agent looking for a team.

“Hopefully, I get a chance to play in the NHL,” he said in HarborCenter. “I definitely don’t think I’m washed up yet.”

Kaleta, whose rugged style has led to countless injuries through the years, is healthy and maintains he’s stronger than ever. The 6-foot-1 winger has added 12 pounds to get to 210, and he says he set personal records in upper- and lower-body workouts.

“Just walking around, you can see the extra weight that I have, and it’s good weight,” Kaleta said. “With the strength I have in my legs now with everything being healthy, just the weight alone is going to be beneficial for me.”

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