okposo

Sabres Training Camp Roster, Fan Friendly 411

By GARTH'S CORNER

Jan 17, 2016 • 8:24 am

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Updated:

Here we go, boys and girls!

The doors are about to burst open on the most competitive training camp in Buffalo Sabres team history.

Multiple jobs are up for grabs. Such as second line right wing, sixth and seventh defensemen positions. Jack Eichel and Sanson Reinhart have wowed in prpspect peer group competitions, now they have to play impressively against 30 year old men who have kids at home and mortgages to pay.

Ryan O'Reilly signed the richest contract ($52.5M) in Buffalo Sabres history on July 2. Now he has to block out all of the outside noise and get busy leading this rebuilt roster.

New starting goalie Robin Lehner has to prove that his inconsistencies in Ottawa were a product of his Senators upbringing. Chad Johnson will push for the starting goalie job.

Newly acquired power winger Evander Kane was traded to Buffalo in February. He will pull his sweater over his head and skate with his Sabres teammates for the first time on Friday.

Cody Franson has to assimilate into his new top four role on his new team.

Marcus Foligno will have to beat out recently acquired Jamie McGinn for the third line LW job.

Pat Kaleta, a nine year Sabres veteran, will be attending training camp on a tryout contract. Meaning, opponents on the ice with PK36 better hold their head up high at all times.

Tim Murray has turned over his roster and is looking expecting a fast, hard, competitive training camp.

Do not be surprised if there are shots fired and punches thrown in this training camp. I expect it to be THAT competitive. Nothing is a given. Nobody is guaranteed anything. All players will have to earn the trust of new head coach Dan Bylsma and his assistant coaches.

This is not going to b a third tank story in a row.

Who says that the 2015-16 Sabres cannot qualify for the Eastern Conference playoffs?

The 2015-16 season will begin on Thursday when Sabres players report to training camp for medicals and physical testing. More on the schedule of training camp sessions that you will be invited to attend. But first, here is the A-Z list of invited players:

Forwards:

Jason Akeson Justin Bailey Nicholas Baptiste William Carrier Daniel Catenacci Eric Cornel Jerry D'Amigo Nicolas Deslauriers Jean Dupuy Jack Eichel Matt Ellis Tyler Ennis Giorgio Estephan Marcus Foligno Matt Garbowsky (invitee) Brian Gionta Zemgus Girgensons Cason Hohman Colin Jacobs Patrick Kaleta (invitee) Evander Kane Vaclav Karabacek Justin Kea Johan Larsson David Legwand Cody McCormick Jamie McGinn Allan McPherson Matt Moulson Jack Nevins Cal O'Reilly Ryan O'Reily Samson Reinhart Evan Rodrigues Tim Schaller Phil Varone

Defense:

Brady Austin Zach Bogosian Josh Chapman Carlo Colaiacovo Matt Donovan Cody Franson Josh Gorges Spiro Goulakos (invitee) Brendan Guhle Jerome Leduc Brycen Martin Jake McCabe Matt Prapavessis (invitee) Mark Pysyk Rasmus Ristolainen Chad Ruhwedel Bobby Sanguinetti Devante Stephens Mike Weber.

Goalies:

Keegan Asmundson (invitee) Chad Johnson Robin Lehner Nathan Lieuwen Andrey Makarov CJ Motte Linus Ullmark

Beginning Friday 9/18, the team’s practice sessions at First Niagara Center will be open to the public, with practices being broken down into multiple sessions throughout each day.

The Sabres will then open their preseason slate of games on Monda 9/21, against the Wild in Minnesota at 8 p.m. ET.

Schedule for first week of on-ice sessions of training camp (all times are subject to change):

Friday 9/18 Session one: 9-9:45 a.m. Scrimmage: 10-10:45 a.m. Session two: 11-11:45 a.m. Session three: 12-1:30 p.m.

Saturday 9/19

Session one: 9-9:45 a.m. Scrimmage: 10-10:45 a.m. Session two: 11-11:45 a.m. Session three: 12-1:30 p.m.

Sunday 9/20

Session one: 9-9:45 a.m. Scrimmage: 10-10:45 a.m. Session two: 11-11:45 a.m. Session three: 12-1:30 p.m.

Monday 9/21

* Pre-game skate (in Minnesota): 11:30 a.m. - 12:15 p.m.

Buffalo at Minnesota: 8 p.m. (ET), Xcel Energy Center

Tuesday 9/22

Session one: 9:30-11 a.m. Session two: 11:30 a.m. - 1 p.m.

Wednesday 9/23

Pre-game skate: 10:30 a.m. - 11:15 p.m. Practice (non-game group): 11:30 a.m. - 2 p.m.

Ottawa at Buffalo: 7 p.m., First Niagara Center

Thursday 9/24

Session one (at HARBORCENTER): 8:30-10 a.m. Session two (at HARBORCENTER): 10:00 a.m. - 11:30 a.m.

**

Kyle Okposo’s vision in his surgically repaired eye is finally crystal clear. However, the power forward says that his contract situation is still cloudy with the NY Islanders.

Okposo was forced to undergo emergency surgery on a detached retina in his left eye in January. The injury cut short his best offensive season of his NHL career. The eye injury was so serious that it sidelined the right winger for two months (22 games). He would return to the lineup and play the final fourteen games of the 2014-15 season, however, he wasn’t the same player that he was before the injury had occurred. It’s understandable. Okposo’s vision and ability to see clearly for the rest of his life is more important than piling up points in the month of April.

Okposo told Newsday’s Arthur Staple that he has been hearing less questions about his eye than he has about trade rumors that involve his name since the beginning of the summer. Okposo knows that his GM Garth Snow tried to trade him before the NHL Draft in June.

With training camp opening Thursday, Okposo can only push all of the negativity and unknowns out of his mind and pull on his skates and prepare to begin his eighth season in the NHL, all with the Islanders.

This is it. It’s the end of Okposo’s five-year, $14-million contract. Okposo’s cap hit is an extremely affordable $2.8 million.

The Islanders now belong to Brooklyn, however, it’s not known if Okposo will be along for the long term ride at the Barclay’s Center.

There have been zero gains in terms of negotiating a new contract between Okposo and the Isles.

Garth Snow pulled off two surprising trades last September for veteran blue liners Johnny Boychuk and Nick Leddy. It’s entirely possible that Snow could trade Okposo before the NHL season officially opens on October 8. Snow has shown in the recent past that he will make deals if the price is right. Who can forget the infamous Thomas Vanek for Matt Moulson and a first rounder trade.

Okposo is in hockey limbo right now.

"It's pretty hard not to when you go somewhere and everyone's asking you whether you're going to be traded or not," Okposo said. "It's part of the business and I'm not naive to that. There's a lot of moving parts.

"Am I upset about it? No. There's things that upset you on a daily basis in this business and you just have to go with it. As far as contracts, trade speculation, I don't want that to be a distraction. I just want to go out and play the game."

I told you earlier this month that Buffalo Sabres GM Tim Murray is always looking to make his NHL roster better.

Buffalo opens training camp on Thursday still needing to address their right wing depth. Adding a pro like Okposo to the second line would certainly improve the overall depth at right wing. Murray has done an exemplary job of rebuilding Buffalo’s roster. In the matter of a few months, the Sabres have become a bigger, stronger, faster, and more skilled squad. Gone are the days that the Sabres will be battling it out for 30th place in the NHL standings. Players that I have spoken with this summer feel that the Sabres should be targeting an Eastern Conference playoff berth this season. Eight teams will qualify for the postseason and the Sabres players feel like they should be smack dab in the middle of the battle there at the end of April.

Last week, Murray added top four D free agent Cody Franson. Murray and Franson’s agent began contract talks 75 days before the deal was finalized. Murray may well have talks in progress right now with Okposo’s agent. Murray doesn’t wait for his phone to ring. He is proactive. Not reactive. He does his best work under the radar. It’s no secret that Murray is still looking to add a big, strong, fast, smart, scoring power right winger to his top six group to play with Matt Moulson and Jack Eichel.

The Sabres enter training camp very thin at right wing.

If the season were to begin today, Dan Bylsma will likely have to re-purpose a couple of natural born centers and play them at right wing to balance out his lines. To know Bylsma is to know that he loves to load his lineup down the middle. Bylsma’s Penguins won the Stanley Cup in 2009 with Sidney Crosby, Geno Malkin and Jordan Staal as his top three centers. Bylsma has talked about solidifying his Buffalo roster in a similar fashion which would mean that O’Reilly, Eichel, and Girgensons will be the top three centers, and David Legwand will play the fourth line pivot. That’s an impressive, dominant group of center cluster if you ask me. This group will win its faceoff and will play a greedy puck possession game.

Tyler Ennis will be moved from his natural pivot position to ride the right wall for Ryan O’Reilly and Evander Kane on Buffalo’s top trio. That’s a no brainer.

The challenge will be for Bylsma to identify and settle on his second line right winger. Captain Brian Gionta slots better as the third line right winger.

Center Zemgus Girgensons can play right wing, however, will likely find his permanent home as center on the third line.

On Monday night, super center Samson Reinhart skated on a line with Jack Eichel and Evan Rodrigues during the Prospects Challenge game versus Boston. That trio kicked some serious butt and ultimately wore down the Bruins in the third period. The Sabres won the game in OT. Driving home from the rink after the win, I wondered if Bylsma would give serious thought to playing Reinhart on RW alongside Eichel and Moulson this season. It would be fun to see sniping Moulson with the two offensive terrors, however, I’m almost positive that Bylsma would reject the idea. I see Bylsma as wanting to book-end Eichel with two dynamic, responsible, veteran leaders. Sort of like when Matt Moulson and Kyle Okposo flanked young phenom John Tavares on Long Island. Bylsma had a front row seat for Moulson-Tavares-Okposo as he stood atop the Pittsburgh bench. Bylsma also knows the value that was provided by Chris Kunitz and Pascal Dupuis in Sid Crosby’s overall maturation and development as an NHL star.

My guess is that Bylsma will be following a similar template in Buffalo.

In the next couple of years, Justin Bailey, Nick Baptiste, Evan Baptiste, and Hudson Fasching, will be challenging to become full-time right wingers in Buffalo. They will add immediate value to the Sabres lineup. However, right now, the Bailey and Baptiste need to get their first taste of their first season in pro hockey in AHL Rochester after finishing their exceptional careers in the Ontario Hockey League. Rodrigues will be a first year pro in Rochester this season. Fasching is in his third season at the University of Minnesota and won’t make his pro debut with the Amerks until 2016-17.

Murray and Bylsma are in deficit mode. They have more organizational depth on the left side than on the right side. Buffalo is over loaded left wingers with Evander Kane, Matt Moulson, Marcus Foligno, Nic Deslauriers, Jamie McGinn, and Johann Larsson. Add prospects Will Carrier and Jean Dupuy to the depth chart and you’ve got a crowded house.

In the next two years, Buffalo will flip its forward depth from left to right, however, who will play L2 RW this season?

Gionta is their only true RW.

Veteran Pat Kaleta was signed to a Rochester Amerks contract and will attend Buffalo’s training camp on a PTO. Kaleta is a classic bottom six right winger. He bangs bodies, blocks shots, and makes life miserable on his opponents. PK36 isn’t an option to play on L2 RW. If I’m being honest, I have a concern with the 36 year old Gionta playing L2 RW. Eichel can fly and will need fast wingers to support him on the rush. Moulson isn’t the fleetest of foot, however, he gets to where he needs to be in a hurry. Moulson would rather forget the 2014-15 season from hell because he was less than his best statistically speaking. That will change this season when he and Eichel hit the ice flying together this Friday. I’d rather see captain Gionta play L3 at reduced minutes.

I’m a big fan of Girgensons playing with Moulson and Eichel because he adds physical protection to the trio as well as a high level of skill, to say nothing of serious grindage. Having said that, I can also see Girgensons challenging for a center position either on L2 or L3. I don’t expect Girgensons to automatically defer to Eichel as L2 center. There is going to be a fight for that hallowed pivot position. Girgensons will enter this training camp with a ton of poise and confidence and he will demand more from himself than ever before. In the end, I see Girgensons moving between the second and third lines as situations in games dictate. Playing the RW for Eichel and Moulson certainly won’t hurt his offensive production in this contract year. His entry level deal will expire next July. A 50-60 point season in 2015-16 would set-up Girgensons nicely for a $3.5 to $4 million AAV over 3-4 seasons.

As for Samson Reinhart, a center since birth, I can’t see him beating out the bigger, stronger Eichel for second line center. Reinhart shoots right and may be able to slide into the second line RW slot, however, I’m not sure Bylsma would want to experiment with two youngsters and one veteran on a trio. Perhaps later in the season when both Eichel and Reinhart get their skates underneath them might you want to pair them together. Not now, that is. Hell, there’s no guarantee that Reinhart will stick and stay in Buffalo after training camp ends. He needs to sell out and give the team all that he has in the exhibition games. If that means playing third line center or wing, then so be it. Reinhart could benefit from an extended stay in Rochester and that’s where he may end up after training camp ends if Tim Murray can make a trade for an experienced right wing.

Enter Kyle Okposo, who checks all of Murray’s boxes. And, then some. If I’m Tim Murray, and I know that Okposo’s future is uncertain in Brooklyn, I pounce on that power forward.

Okposo’s cap hit is only $2.8 million this season. I’d say that the Islanders have gotten nice return on investment on their 5 year, $14M investment in Okposo.

Okposo is Tim Murray’s type of player to a tee. He just turned 27 years of age in April. He brings size, strength, speed, skill, and a penchant for truculence. Okposo would add immediate scoring, leadership and credibility to the Buffalo lineup. He plays big, strong, fast and hard. Knowing that Okposo and Moulson are the best of friends also adds value. They have played together and have succeeded together. Maybe it’s time to put the old band back together with a new lead singer named Jack Eichel.

In 71 games in 2013-14, he scored 27 goals and added 42 assists in 71 games played. He also racked up 51 PIMs. This past season, he scored 18 goals and added 33 assists in just 60 games played. Scoring 51 points in 60 games is not too shabby in a league where offense is nearly impossible to create on a game to game basis. Murray would love to add a power forward who can push the pace, score with frequency--- 120 points and 45 goals the past two seasons--- skate with top-end speed, and smash faces on the walls . He is hard to move out of the slot and the blue ice.

Okposo was a one man wrecking ball against Dan Bylsma and the Pittsburgh Penguins in the first round of the 2012-13 Stanley Cup playoffs. The Islanders battered the Penguins with extreme prejudice and were eliminated in six games. Okposo scored 3 goals and added an assist in six games played.

Imagine the night sweats that a Moulson-Eichel-Okposo trio would cause for opposing NHL coaches. Each member of this proposed line could easily accumulate and exceed 50-60 points this season. That's 150-180 points from the Moulson-Eichel-Okposo line. Impressive. Factor that in with a potential for 150-180 points from the Kane-O'Reilly-Ennis line and the Sabres could top six forwards could easily account for 300-360 points next season. That's a far cry from the miniscule production, or lack thereof, that the patchwork Buffalo top six has provided in 2013-14 and 2014-15.

Adding Okposo makes a ton of sense for Tim Murray to do.

For now, Okposo is the right hand man of John Tavares in Brooklyn. However, if a new contract agreement can’t be reached in the next two weeks, Okposo may well be on his way out of Brooklyn.

It’s not a good look that the agent and Garth Snow are not talking right now. Snow has a reputation of dragging out contract negotiations. He is doing the same thing right now with his left winger Brock Nelson, whose agent hasn’t spoken with Snow for the past six weeks.

Okposo will be activating the final season of his current five-year, $14-million contract when pucks drop on the regular season on October 8. He is believed to be seeking a long term contract in the 6-7 year term for a $6 million AAV. Do not be surprised to see an Okposo trade coming in the near future. The Islanders are deep at right wing, however, they now have experienced youngsters in Ryan Strome and Josh Bailey ready to make significant contributions in the Islanders top six forward group. Okposo is a fine player and appears to have found his groove after struggling to find consistency in his first few NHL seasons. At this point Okposo, 27, (7th overall selection in the 2006 NHL Draft out of the legendary University of Minnesota program) may be expendable to the Brooklyn Islanders.

At what price Okposo?

Tim Murray could deal some of his left wing and D depth to the Isles. Namely, Johann Larsson.

I can’t see Murray trading Marcus Foligno just yet. “Moose… is finally healthy and will be expected to take his game to new levels of consistency and production this season. With Jamie McGinn and David Legwand in Buffalo now, there will be two fewer roster spots available after training camp. McGinn, a robust, nasty power forward, can skate and is capable of scoring 20-25 goals in the NHL. He has scored 19 goals recently. Legwand will see regular playing time in the bottom six. He is a useful, resourceful veteran center who will add immediate value on the bench, on the plane, and in the room. He will be a mentor and a leader of the young group of Sabres.

Murray said last week that Cody Franson will be playing a top four defense role. Zach Bogosian, Rasmus Ristolainen, and Josh Gorges round out the top four. Mark Pysyk will play the five role, which will leave a mosh pit of Mike Weber, Jake McCabe, Carlo Colaiocovo, and former Islander Matt Donovan to battle for the six and seven roster slots.

Murray has two things that make an Okposo deal plausible:

1. Cap Space: $9.9 million as of 9/15/14. 2. Need For L2 RW

. Keep an eye on Okposo.

***

USA Hockey has named it's finalist list for the 2018 IIHF World Junior Hockey Championships.

Buffalo, Pittsburgh and St. Louis are your finalists.

USA Hockey will visit all three cities in the next month.

Here is my rationale for why Buffalo makes the best argument for why it deserves to host the WJCs:

* Been there and done that in 2011. Vlad Tarasenko and Team Russia fought back from a 3-0 third period deficit to defeat Team Canada in the gold medal game. Arguably the most memorable gold WJC gold medal game in the history of the competition. Being a border city, the crowd in the building for most sessions was pro-Canada. Ticket sales set WJC record in Buffalo in 2011. 2018 ticket sales will be through the arena roof as well.

* Buffalo's infrastructure is par excellence. First Niagara Center is now flanked by a hockey and entertainment mecca called HARBORCenter, which is a two-pad rink-luxury hotel-restaurant-retail complex that is attached to the FNC. WQJC hockey fans from all over the world will marvel at this family-friendly hockey lifestyle model. What's more, the IIHF doesn't have to play qualifying round games at Niagara University which is 30 minutes northwest of downtown Buffalo like it did in 2011. Now, all hockey tournament activity will occur on the same mega-complex campus. It's ease of use will blow away any infrastructure that Pittsburgh and St. Lou can offer.

* Buffalo TV ratings are among the best in the NHL. Year after year, the Buffalo-Niagara metro finishes in the top 2-3 TV markets for the Neilsen overnight ratings in the U.S. When you combine the 1 million person (12+ demo) population of Western New York with the 8.5 million consumers (12+) in southern Ontario and the Greater Toronto Area (GTA), you are talking about a TV market the size and magnitude of Philadelphia, San Francisco and Boston.

* Proximity of Buffalo to Toronto: TSN is the broadcast partner for the WJC's in Canada. Having the WJCs in Buffalo again will cut down on travel and production costs for the Bell-TSN family of brands. In other words, profits will be higher for the networks when the travel and live broadcast transmission hard costs are reduced by having to work out of Buffalo.

Being on the international border allows Canadian consumers to shop, work, attend colleges and roam about Western New York unabated. Its been this way for decades. Canadian hockey fans loves the experience of traveling to Buffalo, staying in hotels, eating at great restaurants and watching hockey-- be it NHL, NCAA, travel or youth.

* Eichel Mania Jack Eichel will be the face of USA Hockey in the next year or two. He will be a star in the NHL when the 2018 WJC tourney commences in Buffalo.

Buffalo will once again will play host to USA Hockey's CCM Prospects game on September 24.

Team Roenick will face Team Plante.

A final decision will be made by the end of December.

I like Buffalo's chances to secure the 2018 WJCs.

.

You?

***

Evander Kane is back in Buffalo. Lets do this!

A photo posted by Evander Kane (@evander9kane) on

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