The Buffalo Sabres named Kyle Okposo of Saint Paul, Minnesota the 20th captain in franchise history on Saturday according to Fansided. Okposo is entering his 16th National Hockey League season after nine seasons with the New York Islanders and six seasons with the Sabres.
Sixth American captain
In the Sabres’ franchise history, there have been five American captains for the Sabres before Okposo. They have been defenseman Mike Ramsey of Minneapolis, Minnesota (1990 to 1993), Pat LaFontaine of St. Louis, Missouri (1992 to 1997), Chris Drury of Trumbull, Connecticut (2003 to 2007), Brian Gionta of Rochester, New York (2014 to 2017), and Jack Eichel of North Chelmsford, Massachusetts (2018 to 2021).
The Sabres did not have a captain in 2021-22. Eichel was stripped of his captaincy on September 23, 2021 for failing the Sabres’s team physical and was subsequently traded from the Sabres to the Vegas Golden Knights on November 4, 2021 for Alex Tuch, and two draft picks.
Okposo’s 2021-22 statistics
This past season in Buffalo, Okposo had 21 goals and 24 assists for 45 points in 74 games. He was a -15 with 43 penalty minutes, 14 power-play points, two shorthanded points, one game-winning goal, 174 shots on goal, 92 faceoff wins, 19 blocked shots, 59 hits, 24 takeaways and 34 giveaways. Okoposo’s game-winning goal this past year came in a 2-1 Sabres win over the Pittsburgh Penguins from Zemgus Girgensons and Rasmus Dahlin on November 16, 2021. Okposo’s shorthanded points were both shorthanded goals and came in a 4-1 Sabres win over the Montreal Canadiens on November 26 and in a 5-2 Sabres win over the New Jersey Devils on April 21.
Heading into the 2022-23 season with momentum
Despite missing the playoffs for the 11th straight season in 2021-22, the Sabres did finish last year’s regular season with some momentum to build on. They won five of their last six games, including a four-game winning streak from April 16-23. The Sabres closed their season with a 3-2 overtime win over the Chicago Blackhawks on a game-winning goal by Casey Mittelstadt of Eden Prairie, Minnesota.
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