The Buffalo Sabres have signed one of the top players on the free-agent market, picking up?Kyle Okposo on a seven-year contract worth $42 million Friday.Okposo, 28, had spent his nine-year career with the New York Islanders. He is a three-time 20-goal scorer.He was drafted high. He was a high-profile guy. And hes lived up to that, Sabres general manager Tim Murray said of Okposo, who was selected seventh overall in the 2006 draft. Its exciting to get a player of his caliber that had a choice of, I wont say 30 teams, but certainly a lot of teams, and decided to come here.Okposo?fills a top-line need on a Sabres team that has spent the past two years rebuilding through youth. He scored 64 points during the regular season in 2015-16 and put up two goals and six assists in the playoffs as the Islanders won a postseason series for the first time since 1993.Murray already envisions Okposo playing right wing on a line centered by either Ryan OReilly or Jack Eichel.After playing alongside Islanders captain John Tavares, Okposo is already looking forward to the possibilities of what the Sabres lineup has to offer.What sold me first and foremost, and Ive been saying it all day, is the chance to win the Stanley Cup, and I think we have a lot of pieces in place that can help us achieve that goal, Okposo said. And when I looked at their forwards, and especially their top two centers in OReilly and Eichel, those guys are only going to continue to get better, especially Jack. Hes got superstar status.Okposo is an eight-year NHL veteran and was regarded as one of the top players available on the market after Steven Stamkos elected to re-sign with Tampa Bay on Wednesday.The Sabres are attempting to quicken their push to become contenders after showing signs of improvement last season. Buffalo finished 23rd in the standings this past season after two consecutive last-place finishes. After being part of a lengthy rebuilding plan on Long Island, Okposo says he likes the Sabres approach.I think theyre been going at an accelerated rate, Okposo said. I think we can get there quicker than I did with the Islanders.Okposo becomes the Sabres second-highest-paid player, behind OReilly, who signed a seven-year, $52 million deal shortly after being acquired in a trade from Colorado last summer. And Okposo is close with Sabres forward Matt Moulson. The two played together in New York, and are godfathers of each others children.The Associated Press contributed to this report.John Cominsky Jersey .ca. Kerry, Just watched the shootout in the Coyotes/Leafs game and I have to ask, why was the James van Riemsdyk goal allowed to count? All of the video replays we were shown on TV were inconclusive about whether the puck had entirely crossed the line or not. Steve Bartkowski Jersey . The Dutchmans tenure got off to a poor start when referee Guido Winkmann awarded a penalty within two minutes for Niklas Starks clumsy challenge on Alexandru Maxim. http://www.thefaclonsshoponline.com/Calvin-Ridley-Falcons-Jersey/ . Vettel, who has already clinched his fourth straight F1 title, enters the finale with a chance to equal Michael Schumachers 13 victories in a year and match the record of nine consecutive wins by Alberto Ascari in the 1952 and 1953 seasons. Brett Favre Womens Jersey . Catch all the action on TSN2 at 11pm et/8pm pt. The nine-time Big 12 champion Jayhawks are positioning themselves for another title, as they have run out to a flawless 6-0 mark in conference play thus far. Calvin Ridley Youth Jersey .C. -- Al Jefferson joked that he feels he can score from anywhere on the court.Former USC coach Steve Sarkisian plans to meet with Alabama officials this week about potentially joining the top-ranked Crimson Tides coaching staff as a special assistant to the offense, as first reported by Fox Sports and confirmed by ESPNs Chris Low.Fox Sports first reported Saturday that Sarkisian would reunite with former colleague Lane Kiffin following Alabamas 52-6 demolition of USC.Sarkisian, 42, was set to work this season for Fox Sports as a television analyst for games. Alabama officials declined to comment Sunday and wouldnt confirm that Sarkisians hiring would be announced this week, as Fox Sports reported.dddddddddddd. Sarkisian was fired last year during the middle of his second season at USC and later sued the school for wrongful termination, alleging discrimination because of his alcoholism and breach of his contract. Sarkisian and Kiffin were co-offensive coordinators at USC under Pete Carroll in the mid-2000s.Prior to returning to USC as head coach in 2014, Sarkisian spent five seasons at Washington as head coach. His overall head coaching record is 46-35. ' ' '