Okposo - Buffalo Hockey Beat

Sabres’ Victor Olofsson to play for Team Sweden at World Championship

Buffalo Sabres winger Victor Olofsson, who scored a career-low eight goals this season, will represent Team Sweden at the upcoming World Hockey Championship.

The Sabres are expected to let Olofsson, 28, leave as an unrestricted free agent this summer.

Players who have expiring contracts often don’t want to risk injury and turn down invitations to the tournament. Sabres defenseman Henri Jokiharju and goalie Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen, both of whom can become restricted free agents, said ... Read the full article

Sabres notes: Zach Benson scores 10th goal at end of surprising rookie season

BUFFALO – Seven months ago, rookie Zach Benson arrived here having just scored a hat trick for the Wenatchee Wild, the junior team seemingly everyone, including the Sabres, expected he would be returned to following training camp.

Benson’s preseason exploits in Washington illustrated that at just 18, he had possibly outgrown the Western Hockey League. But the diminutive winger’s limited options – as a teenager, he can only play in junior or the NHL – ... Read the full article

After trade, Sabres prospect Calle Sjalin enjoying new opportunity in Rochester

ROCHESTER – In five games here, Buffalo Sabres defense prospect Calle Sjalin has found what he waited nearly two seasons for in Charlotte: a chance to showcase his talent.

In the Florida Panthers organization, Sjalin, 24, was often the odd man out with Checkers, who boast one of the AHL’s deepest blue lines.

So when the Panthers packaged him with a seventh-round pick on March 8 to acquire Sabres captain Kyle Okposo, Sjalin welcomed the ... Read the full article

As career in Buffalo nears end, Victor Olofsson helping Sabres again

DETROIT – Finally, nine months later, Sabres winger Victor Olofsson can settle in and enjoy what will almost certainly be his final days in Buffalo.

Right now, the affable Swede has a regular spot in the lineup again and a place on the power play – where he’s most dangerous – as the Sabres fight for a playoff spot.

Last spring, when his disappointing 2022-23 season ended, Olofsson, 28, began waiting to be traded. Then ... Read the full article

UPL stars as Sabres blank Islanders, move toward playoff spot

BUFFALO – OK, now goalie Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen and the surging Sabres are making things really interesting.

Thursday’s 4-0 win over the New York Islanders moved them to within three points of the Isles, who own the Eastern Conference’s second wild card spot.

Who would’ve thought last week, when the Sabres dealt leading scorer Casey Mittelstadt and captain Kyle Okposo during their three-game losing streak, they’d suddenly vault into the thick of the playoff chase?... Read the full article

Bowen Byram, surging Sabres destroy Red Wings, move closer to playoff spot

BUFFALO – Imagine, if you will, a Sabres team capable of locking down defensively like it has over the past 10 weeks and possessing the offensive firepower of last season.

Since Jan. 1, thanks largely to the emergence of goalie Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen, the Sabres have boasted the NHL’s third-stingiest defense.

Still, as they’ve focused on different areas of their game and matured this season, their offense has suffered. The fast pace they displayed a year ... Read the full article

Sabres’ Zemgus Girgensons sees future in Buffalo, glad trade deadline passed

BUFFALO – Prior to Friday’s trade deadline, Sabres general manager Kevyn Adams spoke to some teams interested in acquiring winger Zemgus Girgensons and likely could’ve received a late-round pick in exchange for the 11-year veteran.

But in Girgensons, Adams said he sees a player “so important within the fabric of this team.” After dealing captain Kyle Okposo and defenseman Erik Johnson, he couldn’t trade Girgensons simply because he has an expiring contract.

It sounds like ... Read the full article

Sabres’ Rasmus Dahlin sad to see Casey Mittelstadt leave in trade, excited by Bowen Byram’s arrival

BUFFALO – It stinks, Sabres defenseman Rasmus Dahlin said, using a stronger word to describe his feelings. His close friend, center Casey Mittelstadt, is gone, having been traded to the Colorado Avalanche on Wednesday.

Make no mistake, Dahlin likes the addition of Bowen Byram, his new defense partner, and is happy for Mittelstadt, who joined a legitimate Stanley Cup contender.

Still, it hasn’t been easy. On Monday, following the Sabres’ first practice without Mittelstadt, a ... Read the full article

Sabres respond after trades, beat Oilers in overtime and shootout

BUFFALO – The game ended dramatically, with Sabres defenseman Owen Power scoring with 2.0 seconds left in overtime as the capacity crowd implored him to shoot.

The giddy Sabres jumped over the boards to celebrate Saturday afternoon’s much-needed 3-2 triumph over the heavyweight Edmonton Oilers, saluted the fans in KeyBank Center and left the ice.

In the dressing room, players began taking off their equipment. Oilers general manager Ken Holland and some Sabres coaches left ... Read the full article

Sabres GM Kevyn Adams emotional after trading Kyle Okposo to Panthers: ‘An unbelievable person’

BUFFALO – Kevyn Adams processed the question, cleared his throat and stepped back from the podium for a moment to compose himself. When the Sabres general manager began talking about trading his captain, Kyle Okposo, he fought back tears.

“An unbelievable person,” an emotional Adams said Friday in KeyBank Center after dealing the veteran winger to the Florida Panthers hours before the 3 p.m. trade deadline. “I have a lot of respect for people that ... Read the full article