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Edmonton Oilers player review and 2022-23 preview: Zach Hyman

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Photo credit:Perry Nelson-USA TODAY Sports
Zach Laing
1 year ago
Welcome to the 2021-22 season review and 2022-23 season preview player-by-player! In this, and other articles, I’ll be, well, reviewing the Edmonton Oilers 2021-22 season and previewing the 2022-23 season. You can read about the analytics behind my analysis here.
Zach Hyman has been everything and more for the Edmonton Oilers. When he joined the team inking a seven-year, $5.5-million AAV deal ahead of last season, we all heard about what he was.
A physical, tenacious forward hard on pucks who is going to give you 110% on every. single. shift. I was blown away by his play this season, and the ability for that statement to be true. We often hear about players who have high motors, but it seems difficult for some to keep it up consistently.
Not Hyman. He gave everything and more every time he stepped on the ice. It’s something that brought energy not only to his linemates this season, but to the team as a whole. He’s one of those guys who teammates look to for energy. It’s old “if he does it, why can’t I?”
That type of mentality is infectious for a team and Hyman is a huge driver of that. A welcome addition in the top-six, he notched career highs in goals and assists, with 27 each, as well as a career-high 54 points.

The analytics

5×5TOIG – A – PCFCACF%SCFSCASCF%GFGAGF%xGFxGAxGF%PDO
Individual1098:0119-17-361122101052.6360249554.88475446.5355.3747.4653.8598.4
Per/6014:261.04-.93-1.9761.3155.1932.927.052.572.953.032.59
Per/60, RelTm%3.651.65.776.58-1.77.09-.31.52-7.61.52.113.58
The biggest knock against Zach Hyman was he had back luck this year. He had a 98.4 PDO in thanks to a career-low 7.45 on-ice shooting percentage. Even still, the Oilers controlled not just the pace of play through shot attempts, but through scoring chances, too. There, Hyman was well above average in his scoring chances share driving offensive chances at one of the best rates on the team.
Looking at his isolated impact charts, you can see his ability to drive offence come through. He contributed offence at a five percent rate above league average, and defence at a three percent rate below league average. That defensive number is a below where you’d like to see it, but the offence helps to balance it out a bit.

Looking ahead…

Hyman is going to have another great season coming up here and I can’t wait to see how Jay Woodcroft chooses to utilize him. A 35-35—70 season isn’t out of the question for Hyman this season, and it wouldn’t surprise me in the least to see him hit it.

Zach Laing is the Nation Network’s news director and senior columnist. He can be followed on Twitter at @zjlaing, or reached by email at zach@oilersnation.com.

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