BUFFALO, N.Y. — Kyle Okposo will captain the Buffalo Sabres when they open the 2022-2023 season on Thursday night hosting the Ottawa Senators, with forward Zemgus Girgensons and defenseman Rasmus Dahlin as assistants.
The Sabres announced their leadership group on Saturday and general manager Kevyn Adams spoke the following Monday morning about the organization's decision.
"He's got a great feel for that day-to-day. The other thing he has a great feel for is perspective. The ups and the downs and maintaining consistency, and that comes with experience. For me, that's just such an important part of leadership," Adams said about Okposo.
The 34-year-old is entering his seventh season with Buffalo, and was an alternate, along with Girgensons, when the Sabres did not assign a captain the previous season.
Okposo said the title won't change the way he leads or acts with his team.
"If you start to act a different way or do things differently, the guys see through that. Authenticity is definitely number one on my list," he said.
"Kyle is someone that has so much respect within our locker room, our organization, within our community, within the hockey world," Adams said, "That's just his reputation, and as good of a player as he's been and is in his career, he's a better person."
The Sabres also announced their opening night roster on Monday.
Along with Okposo and Girgensons at forward, two of last year's Rochester Amerks have made the cut, with Jack Quinn and JJ Peterka starting the season in Buffalo.
They'll be joined by Jeff Skinner, Tage Thompson, Alex Tuch, Victor Olofsson, Dylan Cozens, Casey Mittelstadt, Peyton Krebs, Rasmus Asplund, Vinnie Hinostroza, and Anders Bjork.
Along with Dahlin on the blueline, the Sabres will have Mattias Samuelsson, Owen Power, Henri Jokihajru, Jacob Bryson, Ilya Lyubushkin, and Casey Fitzgerald.
The Sabres reassigned goalie Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen to Rochester. Craig Anderson and Eric Comrie will share the net to start the season.