The Buffalo Sabres made their 2022-23 leadership group official Sunday afternoon, naming longtime Sabres forward Kyle Okposo the 20th captain in Sabres history. Forward Zemgus Girgensons and defenseman Rasmus Dahlin will serve as Buffalo’s alternate captains for the upcoming season. The team went without a captain last season after trading the injured Jack Eichel, their previous captain, instead electing to have Okposo and Girgensons serve as full-time alternates, and Dahlin an alternate at times later in the season.
Sabres’ GM Kevyn Adams, had the following to say about Okposo:
“It’s impossible to overstate what Kyle has meant to this group – he is patient, he is a lifelong learner, he is levelheaded, and most of all, he is proud to be a Buffalo Sabre. When times get difficult, Kyle knows when to speak up, and when he does, the team takes it to heart. Kyle and his family have made Buffalo their home and want to see our organization succeed, both on and off ice. I am proud that Kyle will represent our organization with class.”
After many years of on-ice struggles, the Sabres appeared to begin the turn-around last season, beginning to win consistently in the second half. The leadership group of Okposo and Girgensons provides the right influence to a predominantly young, and talented, Sabres roster. On the Sabres organization and the roster he’s about to lead, the newest Buffalo captain had this to say:
“I’m just happy to be a part of it. I’m happy to be somebody that the guys in this organization and the guys that play on the team can look up to and try and continue to move this culture forward. I’m just so proud of where we’re at from a team standpoint. It’s not a guarantee that the results follow a good culture, but it’s a hell of a good start. That’s what I’m definitely most proud of over the last year.”
The captaincy comes in the final year of a seven-year deal Okposo signed during the 2016 offseason, bringing him upstate from the New York Islanders and Long Island to western New York and the Sabres. Things weren’t always as exciting and hopeful as they are now for Buffalo or Okposo. As the team struggled year after year, Okposo dealt with injuries and struggles to produce the way the Sabres, and his $6MM cap hit, had expected. Things did turn around for both in 2021-22 though, the Sabres seeming to turn things around and Okposo rebounding with a strong 21 goal, 24 assist performance over 74 games.
What the future holds for both sides is unclear, but naming Okposo captain while the team has plenty of building blocks around him would appear to show their commitment to the veteran moving forward, evidenced all the more by Adams’ words. To Okposo’s point, culture isn’t the be-all-end-all, but it’s a strong start, and considering what the franchise has been through since its last postseason berth in 2011, building a strong culture will be paramount to their future success.
I would have made Tuch the captain. But this will probably work out.
I agree. Prolly next year.
Anyone is improvement over the last captain.