Kyle Okposo Hospitalized

Friday: Tom Martin of News 4 Buffalo is reporting that Okposo has been discharged from hospital. This comes after John Wawrow of the Associated Press reported earlier that the Sabres forward was “showing signs of improving.”

Wednesday: We learned earlier today that Sabres right winger Kyle Okposo has been ruled out for the final three games of the season, and we’ve learned tonight that his mystery illness may be more serious than initially thought.

According to Paul Hamilton of WGR-AM 550 (and confirmed by John Vogl of The Buffalo News), the 28-year-old has been hospitalized and is currently in intensive care. Tom Martin of WIVB-TV in Buffalo tweets that Okposo was originally hospitalized at Buffalo General Hospital on Sunday, and he was subsequently moved to the Neuro Surgical ICU.

The winger hasn’t played since March 27th, and it was initially believes that he may be suffering from a minor ailment. Okposo has apparently visited doctors, but Dan Bylsma acknowledged today that there still isn’t a clear diagnosis. The head coach also noted that he’s “very concerned” about the former first-rounder.

“It’s a difficult thing for him to be dealing with now in this situation,” Bylsma said. “Very, as a coach and a person, concerned for him and his situation. He’s seeing our doctors and done some tests.”

“Kyle continues to be under the care of our doctors as he deals with symptoms from an illness,” the organization said in a statement. “Out of respect to Kyle and his family, we will have no further comment at this time.”

As Vogl notes, the UCLA Neurosurgery Department’s website says that the ICU tends to patients “with all types of neurosurgical and neurological injuries, including stroke, brain hemorrhage, trauma and tumors.”

Okposo will finish his first campaign in Buffalo with 19 goals and 26 assists in 65 games, which is his lowest output in a full season since 2011-12. The winger spent the first nine years of his career with the Islanders.