Patrick Kaleta gets a new contract, gets to stay home to play for the Buffalo Sabres and gets to avoid going to arbitration. Now you know why the Angola native was all smiles Wednesday afternoon in HSBC Arena.

The 24-year-old winger signed a two-year, $1.815 million deal with the Sabres, thus avoiding his July 29 hearing that was scheduled when the team made him the only NHL player facing club-elected arbitration.

"Going in there and pleading cases each way, I'm not really a fan of it," Kaleta said. "I'm happy to get it over and done with and not worry about it for a couple of years.

"I'm proud of what I've accomplished so far as a hockey player in Buffalo. Hopefully it's only a small portion ... of what I want to accomplish for the team and the city."

Kaleta made $522,000 last season. He will make $860,000 next year and $955,000 in 2011-12.

Kaleta set career-highs in goals (10) and points (15) while playing 55 games last season. As a restricted free agent, the team took him to arbitration to ensure he would be on the roster next season and avoid an offer sheet from another club.

"I had to look at it in a way that the team wanted me to play next year no matter what and make sure I had a contract," Kaleta said. "It's good the team wants me and I'm happy to be able to stay in Buffalo for a couple more years at least."

"It's always better to get a deal done if you can and avoid the arbitration process," Sabres General Manager Darcy Regier said. "That was the intent from the outset so I'm glad it worked out this way."

Kaleta dealt with a spate of injuries last season that cost him 27 games. And he struggled during the playoff series against Boston with a broken thumb.

Kaleta said the thumb was almost back to normal and he hopes to increase his offensive output.

"I've been on the ice since the last week in May [with Clarence native and Sabres administrative assistant Kevyn Adams] just working on skills and improving that way," Kaleta said. "I'm hoping to be an ever bigger contributor this year offensively and improve my game to another level people don't think I can play at."

One issue Kaleta has is the injuries. His breakneck style has left him susceptible to trouble the last two seasons and Regier said he wants to see him stay in the lineup more.

"We think he's an important player on this hockey club," Regier said. "The thing he has to achieve -- and we have to help him do it -- is get him closer to playing a full schedule of 80 games. ... The way he plays makes him a little more susceptible to injury. If we can take that same energy and fire he plays with and not really change it but maybe use it at different times, hopefully we get it closer to 80."

In other news from Regier:

* Discussions continued Wednesday with South Buffalo's Tim Kennedy about a new deal. Kennedy, a restricted free agent, has an arbitration hearing scheduled for July 27. He made $635,000 last season.

* The Buffalo GM was uncomfortable commenting on the NHL's rejection of Ilya Kovalchuk's 17-year contract with New Jersey but did say he understood the league's position.

"Without commenting on that, the envelope has been pushed a little bit further on contracts as we've moved along [during the current collective bargaining agreement]," Regier said. "We'll just have to see how what gets worked out. ... the league is looking out for and guarding the spirit of the collective bargaining agreement."

* The Sabres don't appear to have any hot trade irons smoldering. "Right now the trade market is pretty quiet," Regier said. "You're going to see teams looking at the unrestricted market first and then when they can't find what they're looking for, maybe the trade talks will pick up."

* Teams in cap trouble are a key reason the free agent market has been relatively quiet. "There are some good players [left]," he said. "But in a lot of cases teams have run out of money or they're going to have to do something internally before they buy another player."

gconnors@buffnews.comnull