FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — Kyle Okposo knew it all in Buffalo. Through nearly eight seasons, Okposo set a tone for the Sabres. He was a guy with the answers.
Okposo was then traded to Florida — for defenseman Calle Sjalin and a conditional 2024 seventh-round pick — on March 8.
Suddenly, he had nothing but questions.
“It’s so many little things,” Okposo told ESPN. “So what do you wear on the plane here? Do you wear ties? Where do you sit on the bus? All those details you don’t have to think about when you’ve been somewhere for a long time. You feel like a young man again now, which is fine, which is good. But it’s a whirlwind. I’ve only been in one place for years. I’ve never made an in-season trade like that. You’re trying to find a rhythm. It’s new. And it’s hard.”
This is the messy result of the trade deadline. The human side.
When the months and weeks and days were filled with hackneyed commentary and speculation about who would end up going where, players traded from their teams are just beginning to understand their new normal.
In Okposo’s case, it started with phone calls. Dozens of them.
“Everything is starting to blow up,” he said. “There are text messages [first] and then you start getting calls from the people in the organization here in Florida. You’re answering Florida numbers, but you don’t really know who they are. You just talk to different people, make small talk to get to further discussions about logistics, and then once the logistics are sorted out, you can take your time. And I went to talk to my children. But your phone never stops ringing all day.”
It was less than 18 hours later that Okposo said goodbye to his wife and four (still confused) children in Buffalo to take a drive to Florida. The Panthers were hosting the Calgary Flames and Okposo wanted to be in the building.
“I had a flight at 6 in the morning [on March 9]landed at 1:30 p.m. after I was delayed in Atlanta,” he recalls. “Then I leave my things [at the hotel]go immediately to [rink], work out, meet the guys and then go have a glass of wine after the game and you’re in bed by about 1am. So it was just a long day, a long process. And I feel like I haven’t caught my breath yet.”
OKPOSO IS EXCITED to be a Florida Panther. The veteran didn’t have trade protection on his one-year, $2.5 million contract, but Sabers GM Kevyn Adams knew where he’d like Okposo to land if a move were to happen, and Florida was it.
Adams made the trade. His emotional press conference after the deadline revealed just how tough Adams has been, seeing Okposo shipped out after nearly a decade of service with the Sabres.
“Kyle Okposo, he’s just an incredible person,” Adams said. “I have a lot of respect for the people who are selfless in this game and what he’s given to this organization, his heart and soul. When I think about some of the struggles we went through together and the care he had, it’s a unique relationship. I want to thank him.”
Okposo saw Adams’ comments and admitted it was “hard” to bow out in Buffalo. The Sabers just haven’t been able to gain momentum this season as they try to turn a corner and end a 12-year playoff drought. Okposo wanted to be part of the solution. But he left with his head held high.
“I put absolutely everything I had into Buffalo and the city, the team, the organization,” he said. “I gave it everything I had and hopefully the guys over there can take some of the things I’ve hopefully taught them and apply them in the future. But one thing I’m not naive to is that there isn’t a single person in the history of professional sports who has outdone an organization. Organizations will always move forward. That’s exactly how it goes. Someone told me that very early in my career and I’ve never forgotten it.”
The Panthers have Okposo’s full attention now. Florida was honest with Okposo before the trade about what to expect and how he would fill a role. They are the best team in the league after all, and they have a solid, solid forward position in the top six with Nick Cousins, Ryan Lomberg, Eetu Luostarinen and Evan Rodrigues. Okposo — who has amassed 242 goals and 614 points in 1,047 games to date — would get his chance, however, with a playoff contender no less.
He is ready to accept it.
“My No. 1 goal is to win a Stanley Cup,” Okposo said. “You know, early in my career, early in my life, I was looking for validation from outside sources and I don’t need that anymore to be honest with you. I am who I am. I know what kind of person I am. And on the ice, I know what kind of player I am. I know I’m not 25 anymore but I can still play. I can still do some things particularly well and I think I can help the team. The organization has extremely high standards and it’s no secret what the expectations in this room are for the organization. And that’s an exciting thing.”
There has been discussion on the other side as well about how it will contribute.
“He’s a veteran guy who wants to fit in and understands the dynamics of the team,” Panthers coach Paul Maurice said. “We wanted to get him in some games, get him a little comfortable. I think we practice a little bit differently here. There’s just a lot of news for him here. [we’ve been] discussing some of the news, some quickness that he can bring back to his game, some physicality that he could bring back to his game.”
Okposo is willing to make adjustments there as well. can add it to the list. Luckily there was a built-in support system waiting for him down south. Sam Reinhart was Okposo’s longtime teammate in Buffalo and became a best friend. And Okposo played with a handful of other guys in the room as well. This familiarity makes a transition less jarring. Because in other respects, Okposo is still flying blind.
“I’m trying to find a place to live right now,” he said. “When you land at the airport when you come home [from a road game], you want to go home. you don’t want to go to another hotel. Especially for me, I’m 35 years old. I will be 36 here soon. I’m used to going back to see my family. So that part was hard, but it’s part of it. I just dig in. I know why I do this and my family knows why I do it. I think my new teammates know why I do this. I do it for no other reason than to be successful on the ice and to be good in the locker room. So through all these logistical things, I have a further goal in mind.”
This is the message Okposo is sending to his children. It was a shocking choice to leave them and her wife Danielle in Buffalo. there is palpable pain in his voice as soon as we discuss it.
“It’s OK. They know I’m going to be gone for a while,” he said. “And they will come down [to visit]. But it is difficult. I try to talk to them as much as I can, FaceTime them. But it’s hard not to be there for the experiences every day. My oldest is 10, and there are things going on at school with friends, with her dance, and just things that you miss as a dad. But they are doing well. They know it’s temporary and you know, they don’t quite understand the full picture, but I’ll get back to them soon.”
Not too soon, though. Florida looks primed for a long spring that could lead them back to back-to-back Stanley Cup Finals. The Panthers lost there a year ago — as verifiable underdogs — to the Vegas Golden Knights. If the Panthers get there again, they’ll have a target on their back all the way.
Okposo is ready to ride. He hasn’t played in the postseason since 2016 with the New York Islanders, when — coincidentally — they swept Florida in the first round before falling to the Tampa Bay Lightning in the second.
It’s been eight long years since Okposo has experienced the emotional weight of a playoff game. He wouldn’t have to wait much longer.
And then he’ll have one more answer — that it was worth it, right? All those hard days and hard choices it took to chase the dream?
“I still remember the butterflies you get the night before the playoffs,” he said. “If you are [starting on] on the second night, you follow up on the first night with how hard they go. And that first round is just murder to get out. It’s a lot of fun and all consuming. There’s just nothing else that matters, except hockey. And that’s an exciting thing to be a part of. I can’t wait for that feeling again.”