Stanley Cup could be final shot at glory – and fortune – for Panthers’ Kyle Okposo

Florida Panthers right winger Kyle Okposo

Credit: Jun 7, 2024; Sunrise, Florida, USA; Florida Panthers right wing Kyle Okposo (8) looks on during media day in advance of the 2024 Stanley Cup Final at Amerant Bank Arena. Mandatory Credit: Sam Navarro-USA TODAY Sports

SUNRISE, Fla. — Kyle Okposo knew he wanted to come back for a 17th NHL season. He said it took him all of a day and a half to decide after last year wrapped up with the Buffalo Sabres, making his one-year contract easy enough to negotiate for GM Kevyn Adams with his team captain.

But there was one request. Okposo asked Adams for a $500,000 performance bonus payable if and only if he won the Stanley Cup.

And yes, he asked the Sabres for that, owners of the current longest playoff drought in major North American pro sports. He wanted it to be in Buffalo. That wasn’t to be. For Okposo, it wasn’t about the money, but a raison d’être – the ultimate purpose, the reason for re-signing in the first place.

“I wanted to make sure that I gave myself a chance, no matter what,” Okposo said. “If I didn’t have that in my contract, I might not have tried to continue it on, to continue to push. It was kind of a reminder, more than anything, that I wanted a chance to win.

“I’m not a very selfish person and it was hard to make a decision like that, but I wanted to put it out there.”

Okposo is now two wins away from Florida Panthers owner Vincent Viola being the happiest man ever to write a check for a half million dollars.

Okposo has dreamed of hoisting Lord Stanley since he was eight years old, but he wasn’t even sure he’d get a shot to play for one. He went nearly eight full years – exactly 2,910 days if you’re counting – between playoff appearances, from his time with the New York Islanders to joining the Panthers. Seven long, grinding offseasons without so much as a sniff.

“You almost resign yourself to the fact that, hey, it might not happen,” Okposo said. “I’ve had a long career. Some ups, some downs. Maybe it was just going to be a good career and I don’t even have a chance.”

Okposo, now 36, did not have a formal ‘no-trade’ or ‘no-move’ clause in his one-year deal with the Sabres, but Adams communicated openly during the trade deadline and Okposo helped steer the conversation of interested parties.

“I just made it clear that I wanted to go to the best opportunity to win,” Okposo said.

He was moved on Deadline Day, March 8, in exchange for AHL defenseman Calle Sjalin and a conditional 2024 seventh-round pick – a bargain bin price for a veteran forward that the Sabres were just trying to do right by. It was the type of depth trade that at the time, many might have overlooked based on pure production or numbers, but his impact has been felt in Florida.

“The mark that Kyle left on our organization will be felt for years to come,” Adams said by text message on Tuesday. “It is undeniable that he was the right captain for us at the right time, and I am glad that so many of our young players were able to share a locker room with him and learn from the example he set on a daily basis. The next generation of Sabres leaders will undoubtedly have their own style, but will have benefitted from the lessons Kyle shared with each of them.”

And even then, Okposo arrived in Florida and nothing was guaranteed. He played just six regular season contests and was a healthy scratch for the first two games of Round 1 against Tampa Bay until Sam Bennett hurt his hand.

So far, Okposo has been a healthy scratch for six of Florida’s 19 playoff games, but he’s earned a spot in Paul Maurice’s lineup against Edmonton – a veteran who has seen and done it all, except playing on this Panthers team that was here last year, the newbie when it comes to the Stanley Cup Final.

“This was the first time I had gone to a new team in a number of years,” Okposo said. “From the first day I met with [GM] Bill [Zito], the expectations were laid out immediately. They were clear, they were concise, and there was no gray area. I knew what was expected and that was phenomenal for me.”

Okposo had former teammate Sam Reinhart to rely on, but he made “fast friends” with guys he used to battle with, including Matthew Tkachuk and Bennett. They all met up for a glass of wine overlooking the Atlantic on the day Okposo arrived in Florida and found a common ground from the scraps they had been in, knowing that each was committed to doing what it takes to win.

“He’s one of the smartest people I’ve ever met,” Tkachuk said. “I’ve learned a lot from him about the game, about players, about tendencies and what to expect, and he’s super smart. Just another guy who has been around a long time. A very calming influence.”

Anton Lundell said one of his favorite things is sitting around the table during lunch at the Panthers’ practice facility and listening to Okposo tell stories from his time around the league.

“Kyle has been awesome, he’s been a big part of our team,” Lundell said. “He’s been in the league so long and experienced almost everything, you know?”

Almost everything, but not this – not being so close to the Stanley Cup that you can almost put your fingerprints on it. His teams had won exactly one round prior to joining the Panthers.

Okposo has been many things over the course of 17 seasons – a No. 7 overall pick, an NHL All-Star, an NHLPA union leader, a $57 million player, as well as someone who has admittedly struggled with mental health and was hospitalized in serious condition as a result of a reaction to medication. At this stage, Okposo is there to help turn the tide in his eight minutes a night, to block a shot, to chip in on a key play to get the puck out. That is what glory looks like now.

“When I first got here, I observed and I was scared to say anything,” Okposo said. “I think when guys hear it from me, they know it’s coming from a genuine place. I’m here to try to help people, and I love that part of it.”

Halfway home in this Stanley Cup Final, it’s all in front of him now. The Sabres are rooting for him – that seventh-round pick can be upgraded to a fifth-round pick by winning the Stanley Cup, a condition on the trade. And he’s got the ultimate contractual cherry on top. The Panthers know it. The whole hockey world feels it.

“I think he helped shore up our team,” Tkachuk said. “He’s a guy you really want to win for.”

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Stanley Cup could be final shot at glory – and fortune – for Panthers’ Kyle Okposo

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