Edmonton Oilers winger Zach Hyman ‘most likely done' for the playoffs after Game 4 injury
Zach Hyman's coach and teammates had been raving about his contributions.
The grinding winger for the Edmonton Oilers wasn't putting the puck in the net at the same rate. A combined goals 70 in the 2023-24 regular-season and playoffs is a tough act for any player to follow.
His contributions, however, weren't going unnoticed.
The heart-and-soul forward led the Stanley Cup playoffs in hits, continued to chip in offensively on the top line with superstar captain Connor McDavid, and set a workhorse-like example.
Hyman's value to the Oilers can't be overstated. They now have to push on without him.
Head coach Kris Knoblauch said Wednesday the 32-year-old was set have surgery and is 'most likely done' for the playoffs after getting injured in Edmonton's 4-1 victory over Dallas in Game 4 of the NHL's Western Conference final.
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Hyman was hurt midway through Tuesday's first period when he took a glancing hit from Stars forward Mason Marchment in the neutral zone. Edmonton's No. 18 dropped his stick and made a beeline for the locker room favouring his right arm.
The Toronto native led the post-season with 111 hits — 29 more than second-place Sam Bennett of the Florida Panthers — when he was injured, to go along with five goals and six assists.
'He's put everything out there,' said Knoblauch, who declined to add specifics on the nature of Hyman's injury.
'Scoring key goals, but the physical department, how many hits he had and his two-way play was tremendous.
'Now that we're going to be missing him, we're going to need other guys to step up.'
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Edmonton, which leads the best-of-seven series 3-1 and can book a second consecutive trip to the Cup final with a victory Thursday in Dallas, could pivot to veteran forwards Jeff Skinner or Derek Ryan as Hyman's replacement on the roster.
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Knoblauch sprinkled depth wingers Trent Frederic and Corey Perry on the top line alongside McDavid after Hyman went down, and also praised the contributions of Viktor Arvidsson, who entered the lineup with fellow winger Connor Brown (undisclosed) out for Game 4.
'Played the way we want him to,' Knoblauch said. 'We'll need more of that from Viktor.'
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The Oilers were fortunate on the injury front last season on the way to making it all the way to Game 7 of the Cup final against the Florida Panthers. They also largely dodged torn muscles, injured joints and broken bones in 2024-25, but the floodgates opened late in the schedule with McDavid, Hyman, centre Leon Draisaitl and defenceman Mattias Ekholm all missing time.
Ekholm, normally a top-pair defenceman alongside Evan Bouchard, remains out and hasn't played in the playoffs, but is nearing a return.
'Zach's going to be huge hole,' Knoblauch said. '(We) have a lot of depth that guys can come in and step up.'
'We were very fortunate to have the depth that we had (last season),' he added. 'This year we're probably a little step above that.'
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The Oilers also know they will need to get to another level Thursday with the Stars facing elimination. Edmonton was on its heels early in Game 4 and could have easily been trailing if not for another outstanding performance from goaltender Stuart Skinner.
The sense of urgency in the Dallas locker room is a feeling the Oilers know all about after coming back from a 3-0 deficit in last year's Cup final before falling just short in Game 7.
'It brought out the best of our team, playing with a lot of desperation and focus and just laying it on the line every single shift,' Knoblauch said. 'We can't control what the other team's going to do, but what we can control is how we play and how we handle those circumstances.
'We're going to have to be prepared.'
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Those preparations won't include Hyman.
BROWN OUT
Knoblauch said Brown won't play Thursday, but is trending in the right direction after taking a huge hit from Stars defenceman Alexander Petrovic in Game 3.
'He's doing well,' Knoblauch said. 'We hope that he can come in shortly after that.'
NOT LOOKING AHEAD
Knoblauch was asked if there's any worry of his players peeking over the horizon at the Eastern Conference final, which had the Panthers up 3-1 on the Carolina Hurricanes heading into Wednesday's Game 5 in Raleigh, N.C.
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'I don't even know what's going on in the East,' said the Oilers' second-year coach. 'We've got a heck of a series here against Dallas, and we have one more win to get to. If we're fortunate to get that last win, then we'll be preparing for that next team.
'But right now, all our attention is on the Dallas Stars.'
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Access articles from across Canada with one account Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments Enjoy additional articles per month Get email updates from your favourite authors Don't have an account? Create Account In the two years since the Maple Leafs hired Treliving to be the 18th general manager in franchise history, the 55-year-old has set the team on a new course, one that took greater shape when head coach Craig Berube was brought on board last spring. In a perfect Treliving world, the Leafs will be a team that evolves into one of the top defensively responsible outfits in the National Hockey League, to the point that it becomes an annual Stanley Cup contender. In the wake of another frustrating exit from the playoffs, this time culminating in a Game 7 loss to the Florida Panthers in the second round, the Leafs aren't there yet. 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Tanev quickly established himself as being representative of just about everything Treliving wants in his defencemen. When Tanev isn't blocking shots, he's sharp in the D zone and rarely gets caught out of position. Moving the puck is done with ease. Tanev will turn 36 in December, but there wasn't one instance in his first season with the Leafs where his age was a detriment. Treliving gave an indication of the longer, bigger defencemen he envisioned as being the poster boys of the Leafs blue line when he acquired Ilya Lyubushkin and Joel Edmundson at the '24 deadline. Both moved on in free agency last summer, but Treliving had laid the groundwork for his vision. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. included saying goodbye to 2017 first-round pick Timothy Liljegren. Failure to adjust to the physical nature now required by Leafs D-men led Liljegren to being traded to the San Jose Sharks last October. A couple of draft picks and depth defenceman Matt Benning, who spent the rest of the season with the Toronto Marlies, were fetched by Treliving in the trade. At the deadline this past March, Treliving continued the theme in acquiring Brandon Carlo from the Boston Bruins. Treliving on Thursday referred to centre depth and right-shot defencemen as being 'the spine' of a winning team, and with Tanev and Carlo, the Leafs have a couple of integral pieces on the back end. Considering the package that Treliving sent to the Bruins, Carlo has little choice but to go up a notch next season. We can agree that centre Fraser Minten has a bright future in the NHL, and he's bound to become a thorn in the Leafs' side in future Atlantic Division clashes. And a conditional first-round pick (top-five protected) in the 2026 draft puts more pressure on the shoulders of Carlo, who has two years remaining, to excel. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Of the trades that Treliving has made involving the acquisition of forwards, the one that takes precedence is the most recent, getting Scott Laughton from the Philadelphia Flyers in a package that included prospect Nikita Grebenkin and a conditional first-round pick in 2027 (top-10 protected). Though the Leafs also received a 2025 fourth-rounder and a 2027 sixth-rounder, it was a steep price to pay for Laughton, who didn't make the kind of impact the Leafs desired. The Flyers retained 50% of Laughton's salary, so he's going to cost the Leafs just $1.5 million in 2025-26 before his contract ends. He has to find improvement in his overall game next season. THE SIGNINGS Whether he would acknowledge it in a public forum, every GM has signed players to contracts that he comes to regret. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. A month after he was hired, Treliving retained centre David Kampf with a four-year contract and an AAV of $2.4 million. It was a mistake, certainly a lot of money for a fourth-line centre, even with a rise in the salary cap. Before two years expired, Kampf was a healthy scratch in the 2025 playoffs. There has been speculation that he might be bought out. If so, the Leafs will manage to find a way without him. Of the four players signed on July 1 two years ago, winger Ryan Reaves and defenceman John Klingberg were the biggest and neither panned out. The latter played in just 14 games before a hip injury ended his season. Reaves got three years with an AAV of $1.35 million. He played in three games after January this past season and with one year left, he probably has played in his last game with the Leafs. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Forwards Tyler Bertuzzi and Max Domi were signed a day later. Bertuzzi mostly was a disappointment and the Leafs had little inclination to re-sign him before he landed in Chicago. Domi? Well, we have another three years to learn if he can become a bigger factor. He got a four-year deal with a $3.75-million AAV last summer after recording 47 points in 80 games in 2023-24 on a one-year pact. This past season was not a good one for Domi, as he finished with 33 points in 74 games. In the summer of 2023, Treliving's biggest signing splash came toward the end of August when Auston Matthews signed a four-year extension with an AAV of $13.25 million. That made Matthews the highest-paid NHL player for 2024-25, though he will fall to second next season when the extension of Edmonton's Leon Draisaitl, with an AAV of $14 million, kicks in. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Playoff-wise, when it matters most, the Leafs are waiting on their return. Named captain last August, Matthews has three years remaining. Less than five months after Matthews signed an extension, Treliving locked up another core piece when William Nylander signed early in January 2024 for eight years and an AAV of $11.5 million. It's a good contract and one that will be more team-friendly as the cap continues to rise. Nylander is coming off a career-high 45 goals. He's capable of 50. With July 1 last year came the additions of goalie Anthony Stolarz and defenceman Oliver Ekman-Larsson. Little more needs to be said about what Stolarz did in the first year of his two-year deal. He will be the No. 1 goalie going into camp. Ekman-Larsson proved to be a steady veteran presence on the blue line. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Goalie Joseph Woll signed a three-year extension on July 1. In total, the Leafs will be paying their goalies, both better than capable, $6.1 million in 2025-26. That's good management. Forwards Steven Lorentz and Max Pacioretty each made an impact after attending camp on a professional tryout, though Pacioretty couldn't stay healthy. Lorentz is bound for free agency, though it would be prudent for the Leafs to re-sign him. Treliving during the season locked up defenceman Jake McCabe (five years, $4.513 million AAV), a year after retaining D-man Simon Benoit (three years, $1.35 million AAV). We wouldn't argue with either contract. THE HIRINGS Upon firing Sheldon Keefe just more than a year ago, Treliving said the players needed a 'new voice' behind the bench. They certainly got one in Berube. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. The latter's reputation as an NHL lifer — first as a player with more than 1,000 games on his resume, then as an assistant coach and finally as a head coach, guiding the St. Louis Blues to the Stanley Cup in 2019 — preceded him. In his first season as Leafs coach, Berube demonstrated an ability to walk a fine line with his players. He's not a taskmaster who browbeats them into submission. At the same time, he keeps it tight and there aren't many days when his players wonder about their status. It was clear that Berube had the respect of the room from the get-go and that carried through the season to 108 points and an Atlantic Division title. Convincing a talent-laden group to play a heavier, north-south game didn't take much time. As Berube has said, when the top players bought in early, the group followed. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. The whispers regarding Treliving's interest in Berube started in the hours after Keefe was dismissed. The Leafs are in good hands with Berube. With Berube came new coaches on the staff, including Lane Lambert as an associate and Marc Savard as an assistant. Gone were Guy Boucher, Manny Malhotra and Dean Chynoweth. Lambert will have to be replaced after he was hired on Thursday by the Seattle Kraken to be its head coach. Less than two weeks after Treliving became GM in Toronto, he brought aboard Shane Doan as a special adviser. With Brendan Shanahan out of the picture and not to be replaced, you would think that Doan, Mr. Arizona Coyote, will become more of a sounding board for Treliving. The 2025 draft, meanwhile, will be the first with Toronto for Leafs director of amateur scouting Mark Leach. Treliving added Leach, who spent the previous 11 years in various scouting roles with the Dallas Stars, last July following the departure of Wes Clark to the Pittsburgh Penguins. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Leach will have six picks at his disposal — two in the fifth round and one in each of the second, third, sixth and seventh rounds. 'He puts value on every pick,' Treliving said. 'I know everybody should, but whether it's a pick in the fourth or a pick in the seventh, or whatever you've got, his feeling is there are players to be found in every round.' WHAT'S NEXT? We don't want to oversell the summer of 2025, but it's kind of big for Treliving, isn't it? If the team gets the DNA change that Treliving figures it needs, he's going to have to properly use the money that otherwise would have gone to Mitch Marner (assuming, as many do, that Marner departs). The DNA change apparently is unlikely to include John Tavares, as both sides want to maintain the working relationship. We agree with what Treliving said about Matthew Knies on Thursday — the sooner he gets that deal done, the better. The trade market could bear fruit as the free-agent pool at forward is not brimming with high-end talent. The challenge is that Treliving doesn't have many trade chips. If teams ask for Knies or top prospect Easton Cowan, what's the point? One way or another, Treliving, who likes his goaltending and defence, will have to invest in veteran forwards who know what is required to win and also can make an impact on the scoresheet. tkoshan@ X: @koshtorontosun Toronto & GTA Canada World Toronto & GTA World
