There isn’t a gentle way to put it – Kyle Okposo has been the Buffalo Sabres’ worst player this season, and it’s not particularly close. Even if you were to ignore the fact that he is the fourth-highest paid skater on the roster, his underlying numbers would be a disappointment even for someone earning the veteran minimum.

Okposo’s team-low expected goal rate of just over 28-percent ranks second-last among every NHL skater who has touched the ice this season. Only Andreas Athanasiou of the Los Angeles Kings holds a lower mark at 26.63-percent. Not only is this an ugly state of affairs from an individual standpoint, but the negative impact he is having on what was previously a competent bottom-six (before his season debut) is of grave concern.

Leading up to Okposo’s return from injury, the Sabres’ de facto fourth line was surviving. The trio centered by Cody Eakin wasn’t lighting the world on fire by any means, but their xGF rate was hovering somewhere near the mid-’40s. Given how well the top three lines were playing above them, Buffalo was getting good overall returns, even with slightly negative impacts from the Eakin line.

Things have gone from sub-par to disastrous for the said trio in the seven games since Okposo was reintroduced into the bottom-six (where has been a mainstay on Eakin’s right side). As a tandem, he and Eakin currently hold an on-ice xGF rate of 25.59-percent at five-on-five.

For a line that was giving up an expected goals-against rate per-60 of 2.05 at even strength (while carrying an offensive zone-start rate of 39.02-percent to boot), they’re now getting shellacked to the tune of 3.51 expected goals-against per-60 (with a 50-percent OZS rate).

Simply put, the Sabres’ overall metrics are getting decimated both offensively and defensively when the 32-year-old is on the ice. The problem is that the Buffalo coaching staff doesn’t seem to recognize that the veteran winger is playing the worst hockey of his career.

In terms of TOI per-game, Okposo still ranks among the Sabres’ top-nine forwards. In fact, at even strength, he’s only averaging 38 fewer seconds per-game than Jeff Skinner. On Monday night against the New York Islanders, he was even deployed as the extra attacker when the Sabres pulled their goalie. He’s also played a relatively consistent role on the team’s penalty-kill unit.

Compounding on all of this is the fact that he wears a letter, and he is often referenced as a strong locker room presence. That’s all well and good, but none of his intangible strengths can even begin to account for the drain he’s been on the team’s bottom-six so far.

It’s fair to wonder how Okposo has fallen-off so quickly. Though he’s received more than his fair share of fan ire over the years (largely as a result of his contract), he’s provided somewhat positive on-ice impacts. Last season, in particular, he posted his best single-season xGF rate since 2014-15 (51.03-percent on the year) while serving in a defensive role with Johan Larsson and Zemgus Girgensons.

The issue here is that neither of those players are available to help carry him anymore. Girgensons is out for the season with an injury, and Larsson is playing for the Arizona Coyotes. Even though the organization thought Eakin could replace their best defensive center in Larsson, they do not possess comparable skill sets, clearly.

Frankly, there isn’t a strong enough line-driver in the bottom-six to help shelter Okposo and elevate his impacts. On top of that reality is the likelihood that he’s experiencing an age-related regression (perhaps a very severe one), and the issue just sort of compounds on itself.

So, what’s the solution? As it pertains to the 2020-21 campaign, the easy answer is to waive him to the AHL, or simply place him on the team’s taxi squad (which would also require waivers). Small salary cap savings aside, a taxi squad role makes the most sense. If one of his last remaining utilities is as a “locker room guy”, then that move would allow him to at least stick with the team.

Beyond that, Okposo is signed through the 2022-23 season, meaning he has two more years of term left at the end of the current campaign. According to Cap Friendly, if the Sabres were to initiate a buyout of his current deal after this season, they would be on the hook for $5 million next season, $3 million in 2022-23, and then $1 million per year until the end of the 2024-25 season.

The $1 million in cap savings they would get in 2021-22 would essentially be the same as if they simply waived him to the AHL, so maybe a buyout isn’t the move just yet. A trade remains a faint possibility, but it would assuredly involve Buffalo parting with valuable futures to get it done, which also doesn’t make much sense.

Either way, there is no way this organization can allow him to suit up for the blue-and-gold next season, let alone the remainder of this one.

Heatmaps, RAPM Charts, and WOWY metrics courtesy of Hockeyviz, Evolving Hockey, and Natural Stat Trick

Salary Cap and Buyout Information courtesy of CapFriendly

Photo Credit: Sara Schmidle/NHLI via Getty Images