After signing a seven-year deal with the Sabres on Friday afternoon, Kyle Okposo had his press conference and had a lot of positive things to say to the media.
The biggest of them all was the fact that the reason he said he came here was “because I think this team has a chance to win a Cup.”
Okposo apparently didn’t take very long to make up his mind on coming to Buffalo. He had it narrowed down and made what seemed like an easy decision.
“As an organization, I didn’t hear one bad thing about the Buffalo Sabres. I think the organization really reflects upon your owner, and I’ve heard that the Pegulas do a fantastic job and are great people to play for and work for.” – Okposo
Former Sabres Drew Stafford and Thomas Vanek also helped push Okposo toward Buffalo. He said he heard nothing but positives about it all and thinks that this team is closer to winning it all than his former team.
“I hope I can provide just a veteran presence. I’ve gone through this before where I kind of went through the rebuild a couple years ago. I think they’re at an accelerated rate. I think last year they were really hard to play against. I think they’ve definitely come a long way from the year before. So having gone through kind of a rebuild and knowing the next step that needs to come, I think we can get there quicker than I can with the Islanders.” – Okposo
Kyle Okposo says he and Dan Bylsma have discussed the Sabres’ power play, and coach asked him where he likes to play, so that’s a good sign that he’ll be out there with the man advantage.
“I think we have a lot of pieces in play that can help us achieve that goal, and that was the first factor. I looked at their forwards, and especially their top-two centers, O’Reilly and Eichel, those guys are going to continue to get better, especially Jack. He’s got superstar status, and you definitely need that to win a Stanley Cup.” – Okposo