Kyle Okposo did not change his approach as a leader when the Buffalo Sabres winger was tasked with helping establish a different behind-the-scenes culture for a franchise that hasn’t made the Stanley Cup Playoffs since 2011.
Okposo, 34, remained a sounding board for all players, no matter their experience, and encouraged everyone with the Sabres in Don Granato’s first season as coach to feel comfortable being themselves.
Rasmus Dahlin emerged as a passionate, vocal leader in his fourth NHL campaign. Other young players like Dylan Cozens thrived. As a team, the Sabres finally tasted success late in the season by executing a fast-paced, exciting brand of hockey Buffalo hasn’t seen for much of the postseason drought.
Okposo’s status as the team’s unquestioned leader was well-known, but now, it will be symbolized by one of hockey’s highest honors. On Saturday, hours after their first post-training camp practice, the team announced that Okposo was named captain of the Sabres. Dahlin and winger Zemgus Girgensons will be alternate captains.
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General Manager Kevyn Adams told the rest of the team about Okposo’s captaincy during a private team event at KeyBank Center.
“I grew in a couple of different ways,” Okposo said of the 2021-22 season. “The biggest one for myself, personally, was that I just quit trying to put fires out and I just said I was gonna take care of myself. And when I did that, everything else just kind of seemed to fall into place. That's like the airplane mantra, put your mask on before everybody else's. So, when I started to do that, it just seemed to kind of unlock something.
Although the past three weeks didn’t give us a better idea how the Sabres will fare when the games begin to count against the standings, a few notable questions were answered.
“I've been myself for six years and that's not going to change, and I'm going to continue to be honest with everybody that I interact with. I'm not a different person but, you know, in the situation that we're in, it's fun to watch a group that is moldable and is able to grow in a lot of different ways. It's just fun to watch them flourish together and it's something that I try to not give advice. I just, if somebody asks me a question, I'm gonna answer it or provide little tidbits here and there, but they have to figure a lot of things on their own. I try and help create a culture that allows that.”
Okposo thrived on the ice while shepherding the franchise through a season that began with the looming exit of former face of the franchise, Jack Eichel, who was stripped of the captaincy at the start of training camp last fall. Okposo totaled 20 goals, his highest output since 2015-16, and 45 points in 74 games. He was a key reason behind the Sabres’ impressive finish to the season, and their .625 points percentage in March and April ranked 13th in the NHL during that span. He’s entering the final season of the seven-year contract he signed with Buffalo in the summer of 2016.
Dahlin, 22, ascended into a leadership role last season and began to represent the Sabres as an alternate captain during games in which defenseman Mark Pysyk wasn’t in the lineup. And Dahlin emerged as a top defenseman in the NHL, totaling career highs in goals (13), points (53) and average time on ice (24:01).
Girgensons, 28, is entering his ninth season with the Sabres and was selected by the club in the first round of the 2012 draft. He’s totaled 71 goals and 156 points in 545 regular-season games. He’s a fast, physical, checking-line, worker-bee forward who blocks shots, kills penalties and can contribute double-digit goals.
