Oilersnation is reviving the Top 100 Edmonton Oilers of All Time list, a project originally created by the late Robin Brownlee in 2015. Zach Hyman comes in at No. 26 on our updated 2025 list. He was unranked on Brownlee’s original list.

Zach Hyman is the best free agent signing in Edmonton Oilers history. There really isn’t a debate around that.

Off the ice, his image is almost impossibly wholesome. He is a children’s book author, Paw Patrol father, and devoted husband. On the ice, he transitions to a relentless power forward whose motor never seems to stop running.

Whether it’s fighting for a puck along the boards, battling for position in front of the net, or giving a motivational speech in the locker room after a tough loss, Hyman can be relied upon.

His fifth season in Edmonton just wrapped up, and he is easily one of the most beloved Oilers in the 21st century. The affection that fans feel towards Hyman rivals that of the affection they once felt, and still feel, for Ryan Smyth. Both players are comparable in their leadership, work ethic, passion, and energy that they bring to the lineup every single night.

Notable

Hyman has never been known as the most skilled player, but his commitment to consistency has allowed him to excel in Edmonton. It definitely helps that he gets to play more five-on-five minutes with Connor McDavid than anyone else.

As a 30-year-old heading into the 2022-23 season, no one expected Hyman to have a career year, but he did. He recorded 36 goals and 83 points in 79 games played, the first and only time that he had over a point-per-game in his career.

He scored one of his most memorable goals in Game 4 against the Los Angeles Kings that season. After the team had found themselves down 3-0 in the first period, they crawled their way back to force overtime, where Hyman potted the overtime winner, and jumped into the boards for an iconic celebration that was later made into a t-shirt. This goal tied the series at twos, and the Oilers went on to win in seven.

His most notable season came the year after, when he scored 54 goals in the regular season and 16 in the playoffs. It felt like he was bound to score every game all year, and he holds the record for most goals in a single playoff run since the salary cap era with 16. That makes 70 goals in total that season, but the biggest of them all came on a breakaway against the Florida Panthers in Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Final.

“If you do good things every day, good things are going to happen,” he told Gene Principe after scoring his 51st goal, which was an overtime winner against the Winnipeg Jets.

In 2025, he suffered a wrist injury in Game 5 of the Western Conference Final against the Dallas Stars after Mason Marchment threw a hit directly into Hyman’s right hand. He missed the entire Stanley Cup Final that year and the first month of the next season.

Without one of their emotional leaders and hardest-working players, the Oilers fell to the Florida Panthers, and everyone was left wondering what could have been if Hyman had been available for that series.

The Story

Hyman was drafted 123rd overall in 2010 by the Panthers, and 16 years later, he has been on the wrong side of history at the hands of the team that made his career possible.

In 2013, he was traded to the Toronto Maple Leafs with a seventh-round draft pick for Greg McKegg, a blockbuster deal – that’s a joke, of course.

Hyman played 345 games in Toronto and scored 86 goals and 185 points during his time with his hometown team. During this, he played a lot of top-line minutes with star players, mostly Auston Matthews and William Nylander, so when he came to the Oilers, he already had a great resume in building chemistry with NHL superstars.

After the Leafs continued their first-round-exit streak with the loss to the Montreal Canadiens in the 2021 playoffs, the team elected to move on from their grinding winger, and allowed him to speak to teams before free-agency began. This is how Oilers fans knew a week in advance that Zach Hyman would be joining their squad.

Newspapers.com/National Post

A March 27, 2024 edition of the National Post highlights Zach Hyman’s 50-goal season.

What Brownlee said

With the Oilers closing out 2023 against the Ducks in Anaheim tonight, Hyman has been the equivalent of more cowbell for his new coach for the better part of six weeks. He’s on pace to score 50 goals. Playing on a line with McDavid and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins these days, he’s sitting at 20 goals after a 3-2 shootout win over Los Angeles Kings last night and is among the top-10 in the Rocket Richard goal-scoring race.
Hyman, 31, helped get the Oilers started in a 5-0 win over San Jose on Thursday with the 2-0 goal and an assist. Like RNH, he’s not as likely to make the highlight reels as McDavid and Draisaitl are, but he’s been a game-breaker and difference-maker on more than a few nights. Simply put, he gets things done.
Right now, that means Knoblauch has the luxury of going with RNH-McDavid-Hyman as his top line with Ryan McLeod flanking Draisaitl with Warren Foegele. As always, that’s subject to change, but now we’re seeing McLeod hit his stride on the second line. I’d like to see more of that as long as it makes sense. As it stands now, the Oilers have won four straight games going into Anaheim.
Yes. More cowbell.
– Robin Brownlee, Dec. 31, 2023.

The Last 10

PRESENTED BY PRAIRIE TOYOTA DEALERS

It’s time for a truck that can play in every zone. Which means, it’s time to Toyota! Its standard i-FORCE engine delivers more power than ever and a towing capacity of up to 6,400 lbs. It helps you take on challenging landscapes with confidence with its available Panoramic Multi-Terrain View Monitor that provides a live, underfloor view of the terrain your tackling. It even makes loading and unloading gear effortless with its available Power Liftgate. Whether it’s for early morning practice or weekend away games, the Tacoma is a teammate you can rely on. Visit your local Prairie Toyota dealer today.

Editorials

Recent articles from Alicia LaBine

Top 100 Oilers: No. 26 — Zach Hyman

NHL Notebook: Jonathan Toews set to retire; Justin Schultz joins Kraken staff

NHL Notebook: Leafs hire Jim Hiller; Ryan Craig takes over Vegas

MORE NEWS. IN YOUR INBOX.

CLICK TO SUBSCRIBE TO OUR WEEKLY NEWSLETTER