Facing a 2-0 deficit, the high-powered Oilers cannot be counted out thanks to their known and lesser-known stars.
Fourteen years ago, imagine being at the NHL Draft and hearing, “With the 123rd pick in the 2010 NHL Draft, the Florida Panthers select Zach Hyman from the Hamilton Red Wings.”
The tepid applause must have rivaled a badminton tournament in terms of decibels. But unbeknownst to everyone at the time, this afterthought of a draft pick could become the key reason why the Panthers are once again denied their first ever Stanley Cup.
Despite being in a 2-0 hole, the Edmonton Oilers are back home Thursday night with an opportunity to begin a comeback against the Panthers. Although an uphill battle, with four victories, the Oilers could win their first Stanley Cup in 34 years and become the first Canadian team to win it since 1993.
For the players, everyone knows the headliners and what’s at stake.
Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl have been two of the best players in the world for several years, but as the Hart Trophies piled up, the sport’s ultimate prize remained elusive. Defenseman Evan Bouchard has helped expedite their quest, as has Hyman, the former Wolverine and Panthers’ draft pick.
Hyman enters Game 3 tomorrow night only five goals away from tying the all-time record for goals scored in a single NHL postseason. With 14 already to his name, Hyman is only two goals away from surpassing Alexander Ovechkin’s 15-goal mark set in 2017 for the most playoff goals by a player this century.
Although drafted by the Panthers, Hyman never played a home game at Sunrise. Instead, he was traded to the Maple Leafs ahead of the 2015-16 season and spent his first six professional seasons in Toronto as a role player. Following the expiration of his restricted free agent contract and negotiations with the Leafs hitting an impasse, Hyman signed with the Oilers.
Since joining Edmonton ahead of the 2021-22 season, Hyman has set a new career-high in goals scored each year. Likewise, McDavid has posted increasing career-highs each of the last three seasons in assists playing alongside Hyman.
The 31-year-old Hyman has carved out a critical, yet simple role for the Oilers: support McDavid. Hyman’s 54 goals (third in the NHL) this season helped McDavid become only the fourth player in NHL history to dish out 100 assists in a regular season.
Far from the flashiest scorer, Hyman might be the most reliable in the NHL. When speaking to NHL News ahead of the Stanley Cup Finals, Hyman showed a self awareness that has allowed him to become a sure thing for the Oilers.
“Every year I’ve worked to progress and worked to develop a chemistry with the special players I play with,” Hyman said. “Look, I don’t have the hardest shot. I don’t score from 30 feet out. I don’t have a one-timer like (Alex) Ovechkin. I don’t shoot it like Auston (Matthews) or (Steven) Stamkos. But I do try to read the game and understand where I need to be, which is the hard areas in front of the net.”
Hyman is the perfect shot of whiskey to pair with Edmonton’s flashy high-end scoring team. By embracing the grind of forechecking, operating in tight spaces and simply scoring goals, Hyman has become an unrelenting net-front presence who makes life hell for opposing goaltenders.
Per MoneyPuck , here is a heat map of all Hyman’s shots during the regular season, and the perfect encapsulation of “doing the dirty work.”
Straightforward, yet teams are still unable to stop Hyman from getting to his spot. Like a blue-collar Ovechkin.
Here is the heat map of Hyman’s shots from the playoffs (entering the Stanley Cup Finals).
Similar to Michigan football pounding the rock, teams know it’s coming and still can’t come up with any reliable countermeasures. So how did Hyman become such an unstoppable force?
At Michigan, Hyman was a solid player — 89 points (35 G, 54 A) in 151 games — and a Hobey Baker finalist as a senior. But given his fifth-round selection in 2010, no one expected this level of ceiling to Hyman’s game. Not even Hyman himself.
“Obviously if you would have cited some of these numbers to me years ago, like scoring 50-plus or leading all playoff scorers in goals, I’d have been in shock,” Hyman told NHL.com .
The shock would have only been multiplied if someone had told him he would be chasing the likes of Gretzky, Lemieux, Bossy, Sakic and Kurry for the most prolific goal-scoring postseason in NHL history.
Hyman, one of the most unlikely premier goal scorers in NHL history, became who he is by improving his deficiencies (skating) and embracing his role; accentuating his high IQ and love of physicality to always be in the right position at the right time. Sure, playing with a pair of generational talents doesn’t hurt, but 50+ goals and reaching the cusp of NHL Playoff history doesn’t happen in a vacuum.
With a minimum of two and a maximum of five games remaining in the Stanley Cup Finals, Hyman is only five goals away from immortality. Most are counting Edmonton out, but most have been counting Hyman out his entire career.
Facing the team that drafted him, he has the opportunity to end Edmonton’s and Canada’s Cup drought, and stick it to a team that gave up on him before his career ever got started.
While his introduction to the NHL was forgettable, Hyman’s next 12 days could be anything but. With a chance to cement his postseason run as one of the best in league history, Hyman’s name may never be forgotten if it’s etched into Lord Stanley’s Cup.