On Nov. 14, 2023, Kyle Okposo became the 12th member of the Buffalo Sabres to play in his 1,000th career NHL game. The Sabres’ 20th captain in franchise history did it at home against the Boston Bruins.
Okposo joined 11 former players to play game No. 1,000 with the Sabres. The list includes Dick Duff (Feb. 7, 1971), Gilbert Perreault (Jan. 29, 1984), Craig Ramsay (Oct. 28, 1984), Don Lever (Jan. 27, 1986), Phil Russell (March 12, 1986), Dale Hawerchuk (Feb. 4, 1994), Charlie Huddy (March 8, 1996), James Patrick (Dec. 4, 1999), Mike Grier (Nov. 3, 2010), Brian Gionta (March 27, 2017), and Jason Pominville (Nov. 1, 2018).
Before the game, Okposo was honored by the Sabres with a video tribute that featured his family and teammates praising him for his outstanding achievement. Following the video, his wife Danielle and their four children took to the ice, where Zemgus Girgensons, Rasmus Dahlin, and Erik Johnson presented Okposo with gifts that included a portrait and silver stick to commemorate his 1,000th game.
It hasn’t been an easy journey for Okposo to reach this point. The 35-year-old forward has overcome adversity to make it this far. A high-character player who’s battled serious injuries that threatened his career, Okposo has persevered to make history by becoming the 381st skater to play in 1,000 games.
Okposo Drafted By Islanders in 2006
Okposo was drafted by the New York Islanders in 2006 with the seventh pick of the first round. The Minnesota native spent parts of two seasons playing for the University of Minnesota before signing with the Islanders to turn pro at 19.
He played in 35 games for Bridgeport in the American Hockey League (AHL). After posting nine goals and 19 assists for 28 points, Okposo made his NHL debut vs. the Toronto Maple Leafs on March 18, 2008. He had two shots in 14:45 of ice time at Nassau Coliseum.
In his second game, Okposo scored his first career goal against New Jersey Devils’ Hall of Famer Martin Brodeur on March 21, 2008. He had the game-winning goal and added an assist for his first multi-point game to highlight a 3-1 Islanders’ win over the Devils.
The Islanders decided to limit Okposo to nine games in 2007-08 so they wouldn’t burn a year off his entry-level contract. He finished the season with two goals and three assists for five points.
Okposo Has Early Success on Long Island
In 2008-09, Okposo had a solid rookie season as a 20-year-old for the Islanders. In 65 games, he had 18 goals with 21 assists for a total of 39 points, which ranked second in team scoring. Of the 18 goals he scored, nine came on the power play. That also placed him second on the Islanders in power-play goals for the season. Okposo’s early success continued on Long Island.
Considered a key part of the future, he showed enough promise for fans to have some excitement for the rebuilding franchise. In 2009-10, he followed up by setting career highs in games played (80), goals (19), assists (33), and points (52).
Joined by Islanders’ 2009 top pick John Tavares, Okposo found chemistry playing on the same line with Tavares and Matt Moulson. While Tavares paced the Islanders with 54 points, Okposo’s 52 ranked second-best for the season. His 15 even-strength goals placed him third on the team behind Moulson (22) and Blake Comeau (16).
Okposo Signs a New Contract with Islanders
After an injury-riddled season limited him to five goals and 15 assists in 38 games in 2010-11 due to shoulder surgery, Okposo signed a new contract with the Islanders on May 25, 2011. He agreed to a five-year deal worth $14 million.
Related: Sabres’ First-Period Problems Continue in Loss to Bruins
Perhaps the pressure weighed on his mind. Initially, Okposo struggled to live up to the increased expectations. In 2011-12, he registered 24 goals with 21 assists for 45 points over 79 games. He ranked sixth in team scoring. Although it wasn’t his best season, Okposo set a new career high with 24 goals, including 21 coming at even strength.
A Breakout Season in 2013-14
After a disappointing 2012-13 season that saw him only score four goals and add 20 assists for 24 points during an abbreviated 48-game schedule due to a lockout, Okposo responded with a breakout season in 2013-14.
In a year when Tavares played in 59 games and had 66 points, Okposo led the Islanders in scoring by posting career bests in goals (27), assists (42), and points (69) in 71 games. He led the team with 22 even-strength goals and 54 even-strength points. It was that season that established him as a star.
Okposo Scores Four Goals in Islanders’ Win
At 26, Okposo recorded his first career hat trick against the Pittsburgh Penguins on Jan. 16, 2015. It was a memorable game. He scored four goals to highlight a 6-3 Islanders’ comeback win over the Penguins at Nassau Coliseum.
Okposo continued his big night by taking a Bailey pass in the slot and beating Penguins goalie Marc-Andre Fleury with a wrist shot for his first career hat trick with 8:09 remaining. It proved to be the game-winner. He wasn’t done.
With less than three minutes left, Okposo added a power-play goal for his third straight goal in the period to make it 5-3. He did the grunt work in front to put in a rebound past Fleury with 2:31 remaining. That gave him a career-best four-goal game.
Okposo Signs With Sabres
After a successful 2015-16 season where he helped the Islanders reach the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the first time since 1992-93, Okposo signed with the Sabres on July 1, 2016. He agreed to a seven-year contract worth $42 million.
When he left the Islanders to join the Sabres, he believed they were set up well for the future. At that time, the Sabres featured Jack Eichel and Ryan O’Reilly as their top two centers. That appealed to Okposo, who believed that they’d compete for the Stanley Cup. Given the key pieces they had back then, it didn’t seem that farfetched. That included Sam Reinhart, Evander Kane, Rasmus Ristolainen, Jake McCabe, Gionta, Moulson, Marcus Foligno, and Robin Lehner.
Okposo was coming off a 64-point season with the Islanders. He also added two goals and six assists for eight points in 11 postseason games. He was 28 and in the prime of his career. It was a good signing by the Sabres to add a proven scoring forward who brought a combination of skill and grit to the rink.
Related: Sabres Need To Give Matthew Savoie A Real Chance
In his first season as a Sabre, Okposo played in 65 games and produced 19 goals with 26 assists for 45 points in 2016-17. Unfortunately, bruised ribs caused him to miss 10 games. He also missed time due to a concussion on March 21, 2017.
The Sabres finished a disappointing 33-37-12 with 78 points for the season. That led to the dismissal of former coach Dan Bylsma. Former Sabre Phil Housley was hired as the replacement on June 15, 2017.
Okposo Reveals Horrible Experience Due to Post-Concussion Syndrome (PCS)
In 2017-18, the Sabres went 25-42-15 to finish 31st in the league. Okposo scored 15 goals and added 29 assists for 44 points in 76 games that season. He struggled with the lingering effects of a concussion he suffered in a Sabres workout on March 21, 2017.
In a story that appeared in The Athletic on Sept. 24, 2018, during the next training camp, Okposo revealed the horrible experience he went through due to post-concussion syndrome (PCS). It was a chilling description of how terrifying battling post-concussion symptoms can be.
“When I had no idea what was going on, when my mind was scrambled eggs,” Okposo said, “the only thing that grounded me was feeling her wedding rings on her finger,” in reference to his overly supportive wife Danielle.
“That was the only thing that kept me there. That was the only thing that calmed me down.”
from “Back from the abyss: Kyle Okposo opens up about the darkest days of his life,” The Athletic, Sep. 24, 2018.
During that period, an incoherent Okposo struggled to form sentences while hardly recognizing loved ones. He wasn’t the same person they knew.
“I was way more vocal,” he said of continuing to play despite the serious nature of the head injury. “I was so determined to play the right way and try to fix everything about the organizational path. “But by the second game, I had no energy. I was falling all over the ice, could barely stay on my feet.”
Okposo couldn’t sleep and suffered from a loss of appetite. He admitted that everything was foggy. After weighing 211 pounds in a Sabres’ game against the Panthers, he went down to 199 pounds when he checked into Buffalo General’s neurological ICU.
“I had no control over my thoughts. I had no sense of time, of anything,” Okposo said. “It lasted for a few days, where I was in that place. The absolute worst thoughts possible, the deepest fears you didn’t even know you had … I always thought my deepest fear was being paralyzed. Through this experience, not even close. That’s not my deepest fear.
“It’s living without my wife and my kids. “And I thought that was going to happen.”
The humbling realization from Okposo was a chilling reminder of how precious life can be. Even after leaving Buffalo General, he was sleeping only about four hours a night while relying on antidepressant and antipsychotic medications and benzodiazepine. It was an uphill battle on the way back. Thankfully, his team of medical doctors treated a previous neck injury in the spring of 2017, which helped in his recovery.
“My experience,” Okposo said, “made me really take a hard look at why people do things they do, why they fall into depression or isolate themselves or commit suicide or have suicidal thoughts.
“There’s a fear of being vulnerable, of telling people exactly how you feel. That was scarier than anything for me. But when you do decide to open up, the reward that you get is so worth it.”
Kyle Okposo
Okposo became a spokesman for Just Tell One, which focuses on assisting youth and young adults with mental health and substance abuse issues in Western New York.
“I want to use my platform to help people who don’t have an outlet or who don’t trust somebody enough to talk,” he said. “I want people to think they can trust me, talk to me about whatever and know that I’ll do what I can to help them.”
Kyle Okposo
It’s that sincere quality that made Okposo the Sabres’ candidate for the Masterton Trophy in 2017-18. His dedication, perseverance, and sportsmanship to the sport are exemplary. The way he handled his experience can help a lot of people.
Okposo Has Good Season for Sabres in 2021-22
After struggling to rediscover the form that made him a productive player, Okposo had a good season for the Sabres in 2021-22. In 74 games, he finished with 21 goals and 24 assists for 45 points. The 21 goals were the most he scored as a Sabre. It was his best output since getting 22 in 2015-16 as an Islander.
The 45 points matched Okposo’s highest point total for a season as a Sabre, which came in 2016-17. His eight power-play goals ranked second on the team behind Tage Thompson (10). Okposo also tied Thompson for the team lead with two shorthanded goals that season.
Along with his leadership off the ice, that made him current Sabres coach Don Granato’s choice for the next captain — an honor Okposo would get for 2022-23.
Okposo Leads Sabres to Winning Season in 2022-23
Although he wasn’t the same player at 34, Okposo was named the Sabres’ 20th captain in franchise history before the start of the 2022-23 season. With the Sabres’ rebuild trending in the right direction, Okposo helped lead them to a winning season.
“I signed a seven-year deal and I felt it created a sense of duty in me that I had to this organization and that’s kind of how it started,” Okposo said.
“But where it’s grown into is, I’ve grown up as a person and I’ve become a little bit more mature and I’ve had children here and I’ve watched my kids grow up in this community and it’s left a really special place in my heart to wear. I want this place to succeed. I want the Sabres to succeed.”
That humble response to being named captain is what makes Okposo a great teammate. He exemplifies what it means to be a leader on and off the ice in the Buffalo community.
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The Sabres were much improved in 2022-23. Thanks in large part to Thompson having a breakout season that included career highs in goals (47), assists (47), and points (94), Buffalo became one of the game’s most exciting young teams. Featuring a core of Thompson, Alex Tuch, Jeff Skinner, Dylan Cozens, Rasmus Dahlin, Owen Power, Casey Mittelstadt, and the arrival of Devon Levi, the Sabres finished with a 42-33-7 record for 91 points. They missed reaching the postseason by one point.
Playing a secondary scoring role, Okposo had 11 goals with 17 assists for 28 points in 75 games. He continued to play a gritty style under Granato, who used him on the penalty kill. Okposo scored one of the club’s nine shorthanded goals in 2022-23.
The biggest highlight of the season came on Dec. 29, 2022, when Okposo recorded the third hat trick of his career in a 6-3 home win over the Detroit Red Wings. He got the first one in front from Girgensons to make it 4-0 in the second period. He picked up his second when he was the recipient of a Tyson Jost feed for an easy finish that made it 5-0.
With the Red Wings trailing 5-3, Okposo completed the hat trick when he took a Girgensons pass and scored into an empty net with 3:38 left in regulation. It was his first hat trick as a Sabre.
Okposo Returns for One More Year
Following the final season of his seven-year deal, Okposo decided to return to the Sabres for one more year. He re-signed for $2.5 million for 2023-24.
“I’m extremely proud to be a part of this group and to see how far we’ve come,” Okposo praised the improvement the Sabres had made on May 24, 2023. “We’ve become a team. It started off the ice first and then slowly progressed on the ice. It’s the first time in a long time that I think we can say that.”
“He’s obviously the rock of our team,” Mittelstadt said. “He’s the leader.”
“I see it over and over again, day after day, players are down, whatever’s going on in their life, they’re talking to him. And I just think it’s, we’re lucky to have him,” Sabres’ general manager Kevyn Adams echoed.
Entering Friday night’s game versus the Winnipeg Jets, Okposo has played in all 16 games for the Sabres this season. He has three assists while averaging 14:03 of ice time per game. Without Thompson, who’s expected to miss over a month with a wrist injury from blocking a shot against the Bruins on Nov. 14, Okposo’s leadership will be even more crucial at this stage of the season.
The Sabres will need everyone to step up in Thompson’s absence. They know they can count on Okposo for a strong voice in the locker room.
