Getting back on the ice was important for the 10-year veteran, in large part because of recalibrating the cerebral part of his game.
"I think that it's a huge part of the game, I've always said it, the mental side," Okposo said. "Everybody, whether you're Sidney Crosby or you're a fourth-line guy trying to make it in the League, everybody's going to go through slumps and it's how you deal with that; it's how you handle adversity and that's where the great players really have kind of figured it out.
"They don't really have those lapses and they're able to stay mentally strong throughout the year because it is a grind, it's tough. The season is … not an easy thing. When you're playing game 53 and it's a Tuesday night and sometimes it's not as easy to get up for, it's hard and you've got to make sure you're mentally strong, mentally prepared for that. That's something I've worked really hard at throughout my career and done some more work on this summer to try and make sure I'm at my best all the time."
Okposo said he's excited to see how the Sabres respond and adjust to general manager Jason Botterill, hired May 11, and coach Phil Housley, hired June 15, after GM Tim Murray and coach Dan Bylsma were fired April 20. Housley was an assistant with the Nashville Predators.
"I think he's going to bring the way he wants to play to Buffalo," Okposo said. "You saw the way Nashville played last year; they played an exciting game and I know from when we played them over the last number of years, they're not easy to play against.
"It's going to be exciting and I think that as a team it goes without question we have some offensively talented players … and I think we got more mobile on the back end in the offseason and we've got some guys that can really move the puck and get up the ice, so I'm excited to see what his implementation of a system is going to be and how we're going to play.
"I think it's going to be a really exciting brand of hockey, but also we're going to be disciplined too. I'm really looking forward to this year."