Kyle Okposo signs with Sabres
The Buffalo Sabres have signed one of the top players on the free-agent market, picking upKyle Okposo on a seven-year contract worth $42 million Friday.
Okposo, 28, had spent his nine-year career with the New York Islanders. He is a three-time 20-goal scorer.
"He was drafted high. He was a high-profile guy. And he's lived up to that," Sabres general manager Tim Murray said of Okposo, who was selected seventh overall in the 2006 draft. "It's exciting to get a player of his caliber that had a choice of, I won't say 30 teams, but certainly a lot of teams, and decided to come here."
Okposofills a top-line need on a Sabres team that has spent the past two years rebuilding through youth. He scored 64 points during the regular season in 2015-16 and put up two goals and six assists in the playoffs as the Islanders won a postseason series for the first time since 1993.
Murray already envisions Okposo playing right wing on a line centered by either Ryan O'Reilly or Jack Eichel.
After playing alongside Islanders captain John Tavares, Okposo is already looking forward to the possibilities of what the Sabres' lineup has to offer.
"What sold me first and foremost, and I've been saying it all day, is the chance to win the Stanley Cup, and I think we have a lot of pieces in place that can help us achieve that goal," Okposo said. "And when I looked at their forwards, and especially their top two centers in O'Reilly and Eichel, those guys are only going to continue to get better, especially Jack. He's got superstar status."
Okposo is an eight-year NHL veteran and was regarded as one of the top players available on the market after Steven Stamkos elected to re-sign with Tampa Bay on Wednesday.
The Sabres are attempting to quicken their push to become contenders after showing signs of improvement last season. Buffalo finished 23rd in the standings this past season after two consecutive last-place finishes. After being part of a lengthy rebuilding plan on Long Island, Okposo says he likes the Sabres' approach.
"I think they're been going at an accelerated rate," Okposo said. "I think we can get there quicker than I did with the Islanders."
Okposo becomes the Sabres' second-highest-paid player, behind O'Reilly, who signed a seven-year, $52 million deal shortly after being acquired in a trade from Colorado last summer. And Okposo is close with Sabres forward Matt Moulson. The two played together in New York, and are godfathers' of each other's children.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
