Last Year
The praise cannot be any higher for Zach Hyman after his second full season with the Edmonton Oilers. He plays a style of game that embodies the hardworking, blue-collar nature of the city of Edmonton, which adores its hockey players. He brings a rough and aggressive approach to the game, always willing to dig in the trenches and get dirty. But he also presents himself well off the ice, making him not only a player Oil Country adores, but also a remarkable human being that the city has grown to love.
When Zach Hyman isn’t working on his latest children’s book to bring a smile to the faces of children around the world, he was busy last season with the Oilers, putting smiles on fans’ faces as he drove to the net on every power play, taking pucks off his own face. This made his smile resemble that of a true hockey player rather than that of an author.
Oilers fans knew from the 2021/22 season that Hyman isn’t afraid of forechecking and hounding defenders to turn over the puck, or his dedication to getting to the front of the net on the power play, causing distractions for goalies while Connor and Leon work their magic. Or even just being close enough so that Connor and Leon can bank the puck off of him into the net if that is the best course of action. Though that course of action led to Hyman having 9 goals disallowed last season! Even though he had 9 disallowed goals, he still managed to put up a career year with 36 goals (9 more than his previous career high). Most of those goals were scored within 5 feet of the net as he got into the paint and banged away at anything until it went in.
Hyman also put up 47 assists, 20 more than his previous career best. A lot of this work to put up all those assists actually came at even strength play. Year over year, he only scored 6 more assists on the power play in 2022/23 compared to 2021/22. Meaning, a majority of this influx of points came from his even strength play, which is an area the Oilers had previously lacked in secondary scoring outside of McDavid and Draisaitl.
Hyman finished the season with 57 even-strength points last season, which would have been a career high for him even if you take out the Oilers’ record-breaking power play. Hyman has been exactly what the doctor ordered to complement the Oilers’ two mega stars, McDavid and Draisaitl. Someone who can keep up skill-wise and produce at even strength. Hyman finished the year with 36 goals, 47 assists, and 83 points in 79 games played, a career high by 29 points.
This Year
What can we expect from Hyman this year? I would expect more of the same. More of the hardworking, grinding in the corner, taking pucks off the face kind of game we’ve grown to love and expect from Zach Hyman. Does the name Ryan Smyth ring a bell? Fan favorite of the 2000s for his hard work and grittiness in the top 6? That’s Hyman’s game to a tee, and I would expect similar production this upcoming season.
With a healthy Evander Kane all season and the addition of Connor Brown, hopefully as a legit top 6 option this season for the Edmonton Oilers, it gives Hyman the opportunity to play with more skilled linemates. The only caveat is that, unlike Connor and Leon, who will have more skill to capitalize on their playmaking abilities, it seems as though these other forwards will be challenging Zach Hyman in a healthy competition for a bigger piece of the Connor and Leon pie. Due to that factor, I believe Hyman will dip a bit in his 5-on-5 production. He set career highs in his 30-year-old season, so what’s in store for his 31-year-old season? We’ve seen magical seasons from players in their 30s, but that is when they start to level off or decline, not necessarily start crushing new personal bests.
At even strength, I anticipate a slight decrease in production, with around 16 even strength goals expected this upcoming season, which is a decrease of five from last year. Additionally, I foresee a decline in his even strength assist total as Kane and Brown take some of those assists away from Puljujarvi and Yamamoto, resulting in a decrease to 28 assists at even strength (eight fewer than last season). Nonetheless, this still amounts to a very respectable total of 44 even strength points.
On the power play, though, I think Hyman is capable of more. I believe he can replicate, if not improve, his performance on the power play. If we consider all those 9 goals he had disallowed last year (though some were at even strength), I was quite surprised to see how few of his points actually came on the man advantage. I could see an increase of 3 goals on the power play, leaving him with 18 PPG this upcoming year. Additionally, his assist total could increase by 4 from last season, putting Hyman’s power play totals at 18 goals, 15 assists, and 33 points over the course of the season.
Projected
This upcoming season, I have Zach Hyman projected for 34 goals, 43 assists, and 77 points over the course of 82 games. He may not be a point-per-game player, but with a hot streak here or there, it’s not out of the realm of possibility.
Next Up
Evander Kane.
Rig City Sports 
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