The loss of Zach Hyman will sting for Edmonton.
Hyman is a leader off the ice and a consistent producer on it, leaving a hole in the lineup that can’t be filled by simply plugging the “next man up.”
DALLAS — Someone had to say something.
In a dressing room full of devastated Edmonton Oilers players, some in tears and all in various stages of undress after a Game 7 loss at Florida in last year’s Stanley Cup Final, Zach Hyman decided he would be the voice.
“There’s nothing that’s going to make this feel better. Nothing we say,” he said, in footage aired as part of the Amazon documentary on last spring’s playoffs. “But I (expletive) know — I know — we’re going to be back. I (expletive) know it. I know it in my (expletive) heart.”
Ironically, it looks like Hyman will be proven prophetic. Almost.
With his team one win away from becoming the first Canadian team to play in back-to-back Cups since the dynasty Oilers of 1987-88, it was announced on Wednesday that Hyman will not be part of Edmonton’s likely return to the Cup Final.
His season is over, with Hyman scheduled for surgery on Wednesday on his right wrist, which we suspect was broken on a relatively innocuous fly-by hit by Mason Marchment in Game 4 Monday night.
It is hockey’s way, over the course of the most gruelling road to a championship of any of North America’s major pro sports, that players fall by the wayside.
But this one will sting for Edmonton. Hyman is a leader off the ice and a consistent producer on it, leaving a hole in the lineup that can’t be filled by simply plugging the “next man up” onto Connor McDavid’s right flank.
“He’s put everything out there,” head coach Kris Knoblauch said on Wednesday. “You look at what he’s done the last two years in the playoffs (21 goals in 40 games). Last year, throughout the season, he scored 70 goals and numerous big, important goals in the playoffs. And this year, 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.”
Hyman led the postseason with 111 hits, a mile ahead of second-place Sam Bennett (82). He had 5-6-11 in 15 games, making him a top-20 playoff scorer upon his exit.
Hyman’s departure likely cements right-winger Viktor Arvidsson in the lineup for the rest of this Oilers’ run, while one of Jeff Skinner, Max Jones, or, quite possibly, the right-shot penalty killer Derek Ryan could draw in until depth right-winger Connor Brown returns from what is believed to be a concussion.