Kyle Okposo was a New York Islander for his entire career until today. Okposo signed a 7-year, $42 million contract with the Buffalo Sabres on the first day of free agency. Okposo has been playing alongside John Tavares for much of his career, and he will get the opportunity to play alongside another great talent in Jack Eichel.
Buffalo growth
The Sabres have been towards the bottom of the standings for many years. They started to finally trend upward last year with the addition of Eichel, Ryan O'Reilly, and Evander Kane. After finishing in last place for two seasons straight, the Sabres improved seven places in 2015-16. Adding Okposo certainly makes them a better team which puts them closer to a playoff berth.
Eichel will continue to develop, as will Sam Reinhart, and this should push a playoff berth for Buffalo. Both these players had great years, but their ceiling is high. Okposo gives them both the option of playing with a player who has proven he can produce in the NHL. Okposo had 64 points in 79 games this past season. He's shown that he's almost a point-per-game player when he's healthy. In 2013-14 he had 69 points in 71 games. Okposo's speed with Eichel's speed should back defences up all over the NHL.
Kane had some trouble adjusting to playing in Buffalo this past season, but he was still able to collect 20 goals in 65 games. He's a proven 30 goal scorer, and Okposo could hit that mark too. The Sabres could be looking at three 30 goal scorers on their roster next season in Okposo, Eichel, and Kane. Most teams that have that kind of scoring level reach the playoffs.
What's next for the Sabres?
A solid goalie is still a question mark for the Sabres. Last offseason they traded for Robin Lehner, but he got injured in the first game of the season. Lehner ended up only playing 21 games last season when he was expected to be the number one goalie. When Lehner is healthy, he is a great goalie, but he's had injury issues his whole career so far. Lehner posted a .924 save percentage in his abbreviated season last year. If Lehner can stay healthy, then the Sabres are in good shape, but if he goes down again, the Sabres may want to look elsewhere for a goalie.