In the Stanley Cup Final over the past few years, there’s been a strange recurring theme that some fans may have not even noticed. Dating back to 2019, former Buffalo Sabres players have had quite the presence on hockey’s grandest stage and a few even raised the hallowed trophy when it was over and done with. And that trend has come to the forefront in this year’s incarnation.
The Florida Panthers currently feature a number of ex-Sabres on their roster, most notably former captain Kyle Okposo and former second-overall pick Sam Reinhart, while the Edmonton Oilers have one of their own in Evander Kane. A former member of the Buffalo blue and gold is going to lift the Stanley Cup this year regardless of the outcome, but a Panthers victory would be much more poignant. A championship ring would be a fitting reward for both Okposo and Reinhart (albeit for very different reasons) and would also cast even more of a shadow on their former team.
Ex-Sabres Have Become a Stanley Cup Good Luck Charm
Since the 2018-19 season, at least one Sabre cast off has appeared in the Stanley Cup Final and in one sense, that’s perfectly plausible. There are 31 other teams in the NHL besides Buffalo, uncontracted players can join any team of their choosing and two of those teams will inevitably be the last standing each season. But upon a closer examination, it becomes tougher to write off as a coincidence and at times it’s seemed as if higher forces have been at work. Because, actually, the three players who left the Sabres and went on to win the Stanley Cup not long after didn’t leave by their own choice.
The first (and most dramatic) example, Ryan O’Reilly, was traded by the Sabres after the 2017-18 season when his comments about the team’s losing ways ruffled quite a bit of feathers. He was sent to the St. Louis Blues and the following season he led them to a remarkable and improbable Stanley Cup championship. O’Reilly won the Conn Smythe Trophy after leading the postseason in scoring and also took home the Selke Trophy after the season, giving him an emphatic last laugh on the Sabres fans that labeled him a cancer.
It wasn’t the same circumstance for Zach Bogosian in 2020 but he too left Buffalo in less than desirable fashion. The Sabres terminated his contract that February after he was waived and refused to report to the American Hockey League (AHL), but he didn’t spend much time as a free agent. The Tampa Bay Lightning snatched him up almost immediately and it proved to be the best thing that ever happened in his career. The Lightning went on to win the Cup that August after play resumed following the COVID pause and Bogosian went from reject to champion in a six month span.
Jack Eichel’s tenure in Buffalo followed an uncannily similar trajectory to O’Reilly’s but his departure proved to be even messier. The two sides parted in November 2021 and Sabres fans rejoiced the occasion, but like O’Reilly before him, it was Eichel who was rejoicing in the end. The former captain was sent to the Vegas Golden Knights and had a tough first go of it, as the team struggled with injuries and missed the postseason. However, you couldn’t have scripted a bigger rebound and Vegas won it all the following year, with Eichel coming up big along the way. He had to wait slightly longer for his, but he too got the sweet taste of revenge.
And those are just the ones that were lucky enough to win it all. In fact, each of the last five Stanley Cup Finals have had at least one former Sabre participating. After less than half of a season in Buffalo, Eric Staal was traded to the Montreal Canadiens in 2021 and helped them to a Final appearance that July, where they lost to Tampa. Bogosian returned to the Lightning for the 2021-22 season and helped them return to the Final, where they were finally snuffed out by the Colorado Avalanche.
However, the trope has reached a new level this season. In addition to Reinhart and Okposo for Florida and Kane for Edmonton, Brandon Montour, Dmitry Kulikov, Rasmus Asplund and Evan Rodrigues all feature for the Panthers as well. But of all of them, Reinhart and Okposo stand out the most and it’s a safe presumption that Sabres fans could be rooting for Florida because of them.
Okposo Could Ride Off Into the Sunset
For Okposo, a championship would be a richly deserved reward after the well-documented trials and tribulations of his career. The longtime winger is a veteran of 16 seasons and over 1,000 games but hasn’t gotten very close to the game’s ultimate prize at all. He’s seen playoff action just three times (all with the New York Islanders) and hasn’t since 2016.
Okposo’s departure from Buffalo this season was a very sad moment in Western New York. He was staunchly devoted to the Sabres and the loyalty he showed the franchise is truly commendable. He emerged as the leader of a young team crawling from the doldrums of COVID and helped it find its footing. After being traded, he spoke of how much the captaincy meant to him and how badly he wanted to be a part of the solution.
“There is one reason why being a captain in the National Hockey League is special in my opinion: When you win the Stanley Cup, the Stanley Cup gets handed to you (first),” he said. “And that is the biggest regret I have – I wasn’t able to do that in Buffalo because it is one of the most special traditions in the game.”
from “For Kyle Okposo, a time of adjustment post-trade, anticipation pre-playoffs”, The Buffalo News, 3/29/24.
Seeing the writing on the wall, the Sabres did right by their captain in March and traded him to the Panthers, a Stanley Cup front-runner, giving him a legitimate chance to finally win it all. The trade reunites him with Reinhart, with whom he formed a close bond in Buffalo, and gives his new team an important veteran voice as it tries to get over the hill this time after being defeated by Eichel and Vegas in last year’s Final.
At 36 and about to become an unrestricted free agent for the first time since he signed with Buffalo, retirement isn’t out of the question for Okposo and he could choose to hang it up after this season, regardless of the outcome of the series. If this proves to be his swan song, going out with the Stanley Cup in hand would be a storybook ending.
The Tale of Samson
For Reinhart, on the other hand, it’s a bit of a different story. His departure from Buffalo was more on par with that of Eichel and O’Reilly and in hindsight, it’s tough to deny that the Sabres did him dirty.
The second overall selection of the 2014 Draft, Reinhart spent seven years in the blue and gold and, unlike many of his contemporaries at the time, actually became the player he was expected to be. He posted a solid rookie season in 2015-16 and his production and capabilities grew as he did over the following years. It wasn’t long before he established himself as a poised, all-around offensive threat and one of the biggest pieces for the Sabres. But throughout all that time, there was an issue.
Despite more than proving his value, his team evidently never saw it the same way. A number of his teammates received long-term contracts or extensions throughout that time, but Reinhart himself never did. He was signed to a two-year extension in 2018 after his entry-level deal expired and the belief was that he’d be locked up at some point down the road, but that never happened. That contract expired in 2020 and the Sabres re-signed him to just a one-year deal afterwards.
The situation was genuinely baffling and it would have been tough for even the most selfless of players to not take that as a slap in the face. So it should come as no surprise that, like a spurned partner strung along for years with the promise of a ring, Reinhart grew discontented, something Buffalo’s continual losing only added to. By the summer of 2021, his exit via free agency was all but guaranteed and he was traded to Florida before that could happen (from “Eichel and Reinhart vent frustration with Sabres. Is a trade next and how soon?”, The Athletic, 5/10/21).
The Panthers immediately gave him a bigger contract than he ever received in Buffalo, a three-year deal. Though still not the length he was likely seeking, his new team showed more faith in him before he even put on their jersey than the Sabres did in seven years, and he’s rewarded it. Since coming to the Sunshine State, Reinhart has blossomed into a superstar and his performance has been akin to the Biblical figure that shares his name. He reached the 30-goal plateau in his first two seasons in Miami before taking it to a new level this season with a whopping 57, second in the NHL.
Had the Sabres simply given Reinhart the long-term contract he was deserving of, he would likely still be in Buffalo. Though the Panthers have a star-studded roster and that certainly has been a factor for him, Buffalo has plenty of talent in its own right and he very well could be doing the same things there, we’ll just never know. The team has nobody to blame but itself in this case.
Buffalo – The Best Team to Get Away From?
If the trend of ex-Sabres winning the Stanley Cup over the past few years has taught us anything, it’s that the team has let quite a bit of talent slip through its fingers. O’Reilly and Eichel’s ascension to championship glory after being run out of town casts the Sabres in a very unflattering light, and while Bogosian’s case wasn’t quite the same, he too seems to be proof that good things happen to those who escape Buffalo.
Related: Buffalo Sabres’ Free Agency Plans: Players to Avoid
It begs a few unflattering questions about the Sabres: why can the team never get it done despite how much talent it’s had over the years? Why does every star player in Buffalo seem to end up flopping only to succeed elsewhere? Do the Sabres need to take a look in the mirror?
The 2024 Stanley Cup Final begins on Saturday in Florida. Puck drop is scheduled for 8:00 pm ET.
