NHL right winger Kyle Okposo retires at age 36

National Hockey League right winger Kyle Okposo of St. Paul, Minnesota announced his retirement at age 36 on Thursday according to nhl.com. Okposo spent 17 seasons in the NHL with the New York Islanders, Buffalo Sabres and Florida Panthers. He was with the Islanders from 2007 to 2016, the Sabres from 2016 to 2024, and the Panthers for six regular season games and 17 postseason games as Florida and Okposo won the Stanley Cup for the very first time in 2024.

Okposo was the seventh overall pick by the Islanders in the 2006 NHL Entry Draft. While with the Sabres, Okposo was their captain from 2022 to 2024.

Kyle Okposo in 2023-24

Okposo had 12 goals and 10 assists for 22 points in 67 games, with all 22 points coming while with the Sabres. He was a +1 with 34 penalty minutes, four power-play points, one shorthanded point, 114 shots on goal, 131 faceoff wins, 35 blocked shots, 75 hits, 20 takeaways, and 12 giveaways.

Okposo’s shorthanded point was an unassisted goal on December 21, 2023 in a 9-3 Sabres thrashing over the Toronto Maple Leafs at 11:04 of the second period. At the time, the Sabres went up 6-3. It was one of two goals Okposo scored in the contest as he also closed out the scoring from Peyton Krebs of Calgary, Alberta and Ryan Johnson of Irvine, California with four minutes and 58 seconds left in the final frame.

Okposo’s Regular Season Career Statistics

Okposo had 242 goals and 372 assists for 614 points in 1051 games. He was a -135 with 554 penalty minutes, 184 power-play points, nine shorthanded points, 34 game-winning goals, 2375 shots on goal, 1037 faceoff wins, 438 blocked shots, 953 hits, 561 takeaways, and 502 giveaways.

Okposo’s Playoff Statistics

Okposo had seven goals and 10 assists for 17 points in 41 NHL postseason games. He was a -4 with 21 penalty minutes, one power-play goal, one shorthanded goal, and one game-winning goal, 90 shots on goal, 50 faceoff wins, 21 blocked shots, 94 hits, 15 takeaways, and 17 giveaways. The postseason game-winning goal came in Okposo’s second career playoff game. It occurred on May 3, 2013 in game two of the 2013 Eastern Conference quarterfinals in a 4-3 Islanders win over the Pittsburgh Penguins. Okposo scored from left winger Matt Moulson of North York, Ontario. and defenseman Mark Streit of Bern, Switzerland at 12:23 of the third period. The Islanders were once down 3-1 before they scored three unanswered goals.

Okposo had two postseason assists for the Panthers when they won the 2024 Stanley Cup. Both assists came in Panthers wins. On April 25, in game three of the first round, a 5-3 Florida win over the Tampa Bay Lightning, Okposo helped set up defenseman Brandon Montour of Brantford, Ontario at 16:30 of the second period, which put the Panthers up 3-2 at the time. Then on May 12, in game four of the second round, a 3-2 Florida win over the Boston Bruins, Okposo notched an assist on the game-winning goal by Aleksander Barkov of Tampere, Finland at 7:31 of the third period.