Why the Buffalo Sabres should re-sign both Okposo and Girgensons

The Buffalo Sabres want to remain a young hockey team, and re-signing Kyle Okposo and Zemgus Girgensons stagnate that. But they have their value. 

If you know me, you know that I’m a huge advocate for seeing the Buffalo Sabres get even younger, and no, I actually don’t want to see both Kyle Okposo and Zemgus Girgensons back. But that doesn’t mean general manager Kevyn Adams and Company shouldn’t try to re-sign the duo.

There are a few pros regarding why Okposo’s and Girgensons’ presence would be great for the Blue and Gold for 2023-24, and we need to address those pros before writing these two off as old and no longer viable NHL players. One obvious pro is that the duo display incredible leadership, and without them providing their respective voices of reason in the locker room, there’s no way the Sabres were ending 2022-23 with 91 points.

With so much stagnation and adversity this team faced on at least three occasions (eight games in November, struggles in early January, and the first three weeks of March), without proper leadership, Buffalo would have folded. This duo, in 2023-24, would again help prevent that from happening before they ultimately pass the torch to Alex Tuch, Rasmus Dahlin (already a captain), and perhaps Dylan Cozens come 2024-25, or at the latest, 2025-26.

An even younger Buffalo Sabres will value Okposo, Girgensons

The Buffalo Sabres will be a younger hockey team in 2023-24, even with Okposo and Girgensons re-signing. Once again, a younger team will need pristine leadership, and a lot of it. While I have no doubt Tuch, Dahlin, and Cozens, among others, can provide it, Okposo and Girgensons have a proven track record.

Besides leadership, this duo also provides sound depth. It’s important to remember that a captain doesn’t necessarily need to dress for all 82 games, nor does an alternate captain. Okposo and Girgensons could theoretically fill the fourth line and play on a part-time basis, and since they are still decent players – despite Okposo’s painfully slow skating – keeping them as depth pieces wouldn’t hurt.

They were also among the team’s most physical forwards, with Girgensons logging 96 hits and Okposo, 78. Besides Girgensons, only Peyton Krebs, 93 hits, had more than Okposo among forwards.

Finally, they won’t cost a ransom to keep around. Given their value as leaders, they would return for more than a league minimum. But at this point in their respective careers, Okposo and Girgensons would likely be cool with taking a pay cut to stick around.

Overall, this duo may be older and their skills aren’t the greatest. But that doesn’t mean the Buffalo Sabres shouldn’t consider keeping them around. And while you can’t take press conferences with much more than a grain of salt, based on Kevyn Adams’ words, we could very well see the two return next year.

Source: Sabres want to re-sign veterans Kyle Okposo, Zemgus Girgensons; Buffalo waiting to hear from Ryan Johnson by Bill Hoppe, BuffaloHockeyBeat.com

(Statistics provided by Hockey-Reference)