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. 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The Canadian squad, skipped by Jennifer Jones of Winnipeg, got on the board first with two in the second end, and followed that with two more apiece in the fourth and sixth ends. Wholesale China Jerseys . By having more great seasons. Manning was the only unanimous choice for the 2013 Associated Press NFL All-Pro team Friday. ST. LOUIS -- Hyun-Jin Ryu has been pitching more like a savvy veteran then a rookie this season. Ryu pitched seven stellar innings and got help from a three-run homer by A.J. Ellis as the red-hot Los Angeles Dodgers beat the St. Louis Cardinals 5-1 Thursday night. The Dodgers have won 17 of their last 18 games on the road, with the only loss coming Tuesday to St. Louis in the second game of the four-game set. Los Angeles returns home for a six-game home stand against Tampa and the New York Mets. Although he is in his first year with the Dodgers, Ryu pitched professionally in Korea for seven years before coming to Los Angeles, and it shows, according to Ellis. "This guy knows how to pitch so well," Ellis said. "He pitches to the scoreboard as well as anyone Ive caught. He knew he had a great lineup across the way that we had to face, and from the get-go, he was really locked in." Ryu (11-3) allowed one unearned run on five hits while striking out seven and walking no one. He increased his winning percentage to .786, which is the highest winning percentage for a rookie in Dodgers history. He shut down the Cardinals without his best fastball. "Most of my pitches were on point today," Ryu said through an interpreter. "The only concern I had was that my fastball, the velocity was not as high as I hoped it would be. Thanks to my other pitches, I was able to get out of the innings." Fellow Los Angeles rookie Yasiel Puig had three hits to raise his batting average to .377. Adrian Gonzalez drove in a run with a sacrifice fly and Jerry Hairston had a pinch-hit RBI single. Dodgers manager Don Mattingly was thrilled to take three of four from the Cardinals. "This is a good club over there," Mattingly said. "Just like us, they feel like they got to win every day. We feel like we have to do the same. To get three out of fouur from them makes you feel good.dddddddddddd." Los Angeles spoiled the first Major League start for St. Louis rookie Carlos Martinez (0-1), who was called up from Triple-A Memphis earlier in the day to make the start. Martinez lasted just 4 2-3 innings before leaving with cramps. He allowed all four runs on seven hits and three walks. "I thought overall he did a pretty nice job," said St. Louis manager Mike Matheny. "His stuffs electric; theres no question about that." Matt Holliday had two hits and scored the Cardinals only run. St. Louis fell four games back of Pittsburgh in the National League Central race. With the Dodgers leading 1-0, Holliday singled with two outs to keep the fourth inning alive. David Freese followed with a single to centre, and when Andre Ethiers throw into the infield hit the second base bag and got away, Holliday came home to even the score. Gonzalez walked with one out in the fifth and Puig followed with a single. Puig was erased by Ethiers fielders choice, but Ellis then drove Martinezs pitch into the Dodgers bullpen in left field to make it 4-1. "It was just one of those things, where youre trying to put a nice swing on something and drive a run in," Ellis said. "In that situation, sometimes youre rewarded with a little more than youre looking for." Notes: Cardinals rookie pitcher Shelby Miller, who left Wednesday nights game after two pitches when he was struck on the pitching elbow by a Carl Crawford line drive, said before the game he is ready to go. "I dont think Im going to miss a beat," Miller said. "Its less sore than if I threw 100 pitches." ... 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