Oh, how the time flies.
It was three years ago today that the Edmonton Oilers signed Zach Hyman to a seven-year, $5.5-million contract — one that has quickly become one of the best free agent signings of all-time. While there was general belief that Hyman would fit in well in Edmonton given his track record of being a two-time 20-goal scorer, nobody thought he could do what he’s done since wearing the orange and blue.
He’s racked up 27, 36 and 54 goal seasons, each a new career-high year after year, while scoring 54, 83 and 77 point seasons, too. Not only has he found himself stapled to Connor McDavid’s wing on the top line, but he’s been a massive net-front presence on the powerplay, too, scoring 15 goals with the man advantage in each of the last two seasons.
This season was his most impressive, becoming the 99th player in NHL history to record a 50-goal season, and at 31 years and 289 days old when he hit the mark, he also became one of the oldest to do. Only 11 players have scored 50-goals at his age or older, joining Alex Ovechkin and Phil Esposito, who each did it twice, as well as Jaromir Jagr, Joe Sakic, Mario Lemieux, Joe Mullen, Marcel Dionno, Vic Hadfield, Bobby Hull and Johnny Buyck.
His scoring ways weren’t held to just the regular season, either, racking up a league-leading 16 goals in 25 playoff games
At the time of this signing, there was hope that Hyman would be able to give the Oilers four to five solid seasons, and that the last two years might have to be eaten; three years into the deal his contract has already paid for itself.
Hyman’s become a fan favourite for his goal scoring ways, but also for his “bring a lunchpail to work” attitude. He’s a player who is emptying the tank on every shift and in every game, playing hard down low and in front of the net. Simply put, he’s become this generation’s Ryan Smyth.
With four more years left on his deal, it’s easy to expect some regression from Hyman’s game, Daily Faceoff’s Matt Larkin wrote in his top-300 fantasy hockey rankings, where he slotted the winger at No. 33:
“A little low for someone who finished third in the NHL in goals? Nah. Hyman is fantastic, but he’s 32, he smashed his career high in shooting percentage last season and he’s been a point-per-game player once in his nine seasons. He probably slides back to something like 45-30-75 this season. Nothing wrong with that.”
That kind of offence would still be excellent for the Oilers next year, who have added more depth to their scoring ranks with Jeff Skinner and Viktor Arvidsson.
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@thenationnetwork.com.
