Oilers’ Hyman may go down in history
Zach Hyman wasn’t handed his walking papers in Toronto, but the Maple Leafs weren’t sweating it much when the gritty, homegrown winger quietly skipped out of town in the summer of 2021 as an unrestricted free agent.
Hyman, then 29 years old, had logged six seasons with the Leafs, his contributions solid but not spectacular. There is, after all, only so much elbow room on rosters squeezed, if not dictated, by the salary cap, and the Leafs had a handful of glitzier forwards to satisfy at the pay window. Bigger names were on their mind.
No one, of course, not even Hyman himself, foresaw the goal-scoring gold he was about to mine.
Now three seasons into his sevenyear deal with Edmonton (AAV $5.5 million), Hyman on Wednesday night rolled up a natural hat trick in the Oilers’ 7-2 pummeling of the Capitals. For those not keeping score, those were goals 44, 45, and 46 for the straightline, get-to-the-net Hyman, who awoke Thursday morning tied for second with Florida’s Sam Reinhart. Only ex-Leafs teammate Auston Matthews (55) has more.
Hyman entered weekend play a mere four goals shy of being only the 22nd NHLer since the turn of the century to pot 50 in a season. Matthews is the only Maple Leaf on that list. Rick Vaive (three times) is the only other Leaf ever to reach 50, long before Matthews or Hyman were born.
We’re a bit spoiled in the Hub of Hockey when it comes to appreciating the NHL’s best all-time UFA signings, a select group of names among whom Hyman now enters the discussion.
With that hat trick against the Capitals, Hyman increased his production to 202 points in 218 games with the Oilers, virtually in lockstep with the 27 points he’s posted for them in 28 playoff games.
Time will tell where Hyman fits in the starry universe of all-time UFA pickups. Edmonton could win a Stanley Cup title or two with him on the roster. Even one should land him firmly in the UFA top 20. A second, if his production remains in that point-per-game neighborhood, could place him in the top 10.
Granted, Hyman plugged into a lineup that includes offensive phenoms Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl.
No question he has benefited by being shoulder to shoulder with those two, but producing his kind of numbers involves much more than simply sitting in the sidecar. Hyman’s ability and willingness to get to the net and make the most of that hard hat approach is rarely seen in today’s game. Obviously, he feeds off what the other two generate, but isn’t their production also enhanced by his presence?
Parse the chicken and egg there if you like, but Hyman is not a latter day Warren Young, the short-time Penguin who scored 40 goals at age 29 in Mario Lemieux’s 1984-85 rookie season and then all but disappeared.
The best of the all-time UFA class, by the eye of your faithful puck chronicler, is topped by two Hall of Famers and a third in waiting (Zdeno Chara). Big Z, signed by the Bruins out of Ottawa in July 2006, was immediately named captain, provided the defensive backbone to the Cup win in 2011, and piled up 1,023 games across 14 seasons with the Black and Gold. He helped right a franchise that had been searching to regain its structure, purpose, and mojo since the departure of Ray Bourque six years prior to Chara’s arrival.
The only other names that come close to consideration for the No. 1 spot are Martin St. Louis and Peter Stastny,
the latter of whom is often forgotten in this discussion because he signed with the Nordiques nearly a quarter-century before NHL free agency took the form we know today.
St. Louis, the former University of Vermont dynamo, had just turned 25 when then-Lightning general manager Rick Dudley signed him in July 2000 to skate alongside Vincent Lecavalier.
Lecavalier, only 20, was two years on the job as the franchise centerpiece.
The Flames took a flyer on St. Louis, a 5-foot-8-inch winger two years earlier, then cut him free after he didn’t produce in his first 69 NHL games — the definition of too small a sample size.
The Flames, by the way, in March 1988, also traded Brett Hull, 23, to the Blues. After two seasons each, Calgary gave up two players who went on to careers totaling 1,132 goals and 2,424 points. Keep that in mind, friends of the Black and Gold, when fretting over the missed chances of the 2015 draft.
Like Chara in Boston, St. Louis was essential to Tampa Bay’s Cup win in 2004 and, hand in hand with Lecavalier, was a franchise cornerstone for his 13 years with the Lightning.
The sublime Stastny was not yet 24 when he signed with the Nordiques after a daring escape from communistcontrolled Czechoslovakia with his brother, Anton, who was three years his junior. Anton had been drafted by the Nordiques. Older brother Marian Stastny joined them on the Quebec roster the following season. The Stastny brothers were magical when they rode on the same line. Peter, by far the best of the trio, played 10 seasons with the Nordiques but never got his name on the Stanley Cup. He finished with 1,239 points in 977 NHL games.
It’s impossible for Hyman to challenge those three for the tip of the UFA pyramid, but he’s inching his way among names such as Ed Belfour (Dallas), Scott Niedermayer (Anaheim), Adam Graves (NY Rangers), Adam Oates (Detroit), and Tim Thomas, another Boston favorite.
Thomas was five years out of Vermont, culling paychecks out of the minor pros and Europe, when then-Bruins GM Mike O’Connell signed him as a free agent in 2002. It would be nine years before Thomas backstopped the Stanley Cup win in 2011, winning the Vezina Trophy for a second time that year and topping it off with the Conn Smythe Trophy as the playoff MVP.
Nearly three years after letting Hyman walk, and 57 years since their last Cup win, the flashy Maple Leafs remain without that guy up front who binds all that scoring talent into a tight, effective, durable unit. They lack that glue guy to go with William Nylander, Mitch Marner, John Tavares, and Matthews, whose average salary beginning next season will exceed $13 million. For less than half that price, the Oilers have everything the Leafs still need.
LAND OF THE LOST Jagr shakes head at stolen bobbles
For many a night in Pittsburgh, including the two seasons he helped the Penguins win the Stanley Cup, Jaromir Jagr stole the show. The legendary Czech winger was back in Pittsburgh on Thursday, where the show was stolen from him.
According to the Penguins, a shipment of some 18,000 bobbleheads crafted in Jagr’s likeness — with His Hairness depicted giving his trademark goal salute — were stolen upon being delivered in California.
While federal and California law enforcement authorities continued their pursuit of the Jagr heisters, the man himself was at PPG Paints Arena Thursday night as the lone guy in the building, or anywhere else in western Pennsylvania, bearing any resemblance to the 6-3 winger, now 52.
“Did anybody see my bubbleheads?” a playful Jagr posted via social media. “18,000 of them. Actually, I got one. Missing 17,999. Let me know. Thank you.”
The Penguins, who revealed the theft hours ahead of faceoff that night against the Sharks, issued vouchers to all ticket-holders, who can collect their “bubbleheads” once the shipment is tracked down or replaced.
Not all was lost, which is saying something for the Penguins these days. They polished off the Sharks, 6-3, and stood 5 points out of a wild-card spot at night’s end. The FSG Penguins missed the playoff cut line last season for the first time since 2005-06.
ETC. Julien still feels at home in Boston
Ex-Bruins coach Claude Julien ,in town recently for the club’s continuing centennial celebration, lives with his wife and children in downtown Ottawa.
Hired promptly by the Canadiens to run their bench after his dismissal by the Bruins in February 2017, Julien hasn’t coached in the NHL since being let go 18 games into the 2020-21 season, with the Habs 9-5-4. His ultimate successor, Martin St. Louis, entered the weekend with a 70-94-21 record.
A relaxed Julien, 63, said he would be interested in a head coaching job in the NHL, provided the situation were right.
“When I say that,” noted Julien, “it could be a team with kids that are developing, or a team that’s competing now for a run at the Cup. It wouldn’t matter, just so long as I felt everyone [read: owner, GM, et al] knew what they wanted, realistically what to expect.”
That’s the voice of experience talking. Julien, the only coach to win the Cup in Boston since Tom Johnson (1972), oft was picked apart by media and players alike for his conservative approach, especially the offensive limitations he imposed on his defensemen. But it proved successful for a long time (857 games and 476 wins, including playoffs) and could again, albeit with the right franchise and support/coaching staff.
Since coaching Montreal, Julien has scouted for the Blues (for whom ex-Bruins GM Peter Chiarelli is vice president of hockey operations) and for two years has been an adviser to Swiss team Ambri-Piotta.
The Juliens sold the family home in Lexington not long after Claude departed for the Montreal gig, but remain frequent visitors, in part because they want to maintain ties with the medical community that has cared for their three children since infancy.
“We love it here,” he said. “Boston will always be like home for us.”
Steady habit of winning
The Bruins entered Saturday night’s matchup vs. the Flyers with a 39-14-15 record, one win shy of reaching 40 for a 12th consecutive time (seasons of 70 games or more). They last missed the mark with their 39-30-13 finish in 2009-10.
Among the 31 other clubs, only the Penguins (14 seasons) own a longer streak of 40 wins. As of Friday morning, Pittsburgh needed to win 11 of its final 17 games to extend the run to an NHLrecord 15.
The mark for most consecutive 40win seasons is 14, shared by the Penguins, Sharks (ended in 2020), and the Red Wings (ended in 2013).
The Bruins also ran off a dozen 40win seasons from 1968-80, encapsulating the entire Big Bad Bruins era and the two Stanley Cup victories in ’70 and ’72.
A look at the future
A quick check on the Bruins’ 2023 draft class:
No. 92, Chris Pelosi, C — Second in scoring (19-30–49) with USHL Sioux Falls, 10 points behind undrafted J.J. Wiebusch. Will suit up next season for Quinnipiac.
No. 124, Beckett Hendrickson ,C— Began season in Sioux Falls with Pelosi, traded to USHL Dubuque late last month for the undrafted Chase LaPinta. The son of ex-NHLer Darby Hendrickson will suit up this fall for Minnesota, his father’s alma mater.
No. 188, Ryan Walsh, F — Solid first season at Cornell (20 points in 30 games), second to Jonathan Castagna (Arizona draft pick) in Big Red’s freshman scoring.
No. 214, Casper Nassen, LW — Good size (6-3, 203 pounds). Remained in Sweden, where he entered the weekend with a line of 16-14–30 for Vastra Frolunda Jr., former stomping grounds of P.J. Axelsson.
No. 220, Kristian Kostadinski ,D— Also big (6-3, 198), and also with Frolunda Jr., has posted 18 points, second among the club’s defensemen.
Loose pucks
As the weekend approached, ex-Boston College phenom Johnny Gaudreau had only 10 goals and 47 points as the Blue Jackets’ rainmaker on offense. That’s a lot of dark clouds. Gaudreau leads the team with those 47 points, bad news in itself, but a half-dozen Blue Jackets had more goals. Gaudreau, 30, has five more years to go on a UFA deal that carries a $9.75 million AAV. Not out of the question that the incoming GM (to be named) looks to move Johnny Hockey to a contender of Gaudreau’s liking, albeit with the Jackets retaining, say, one-third of his salary . . . Zach Hyman, by the way, originally was drafted by the Panthers (No. 123 in 2010) but played four years at the University of Michigan and thus earned the right to declare unrestricted free agency in the summer of 2015. The Panthers opted to flip his rights that June to the Maple Leafs in return for Greg McKegg, who went on to become a journeyman center (233 games, seven teams, including the Bruins). McKegg now plays for Bakersfield, the Oilers’ AHL affiliate . . . Quinnipiac, which opened the ECAC quarterfinals Friday night vs. RPI, has one of the hottest free agents in 6-1 center Collin Graf, who helped pace the Bobcats to their NCAA championship last season and again leads them in scoring (21-26–47). The former Boston Jr. Bruin grew up in Lincoln and still has a year of NCAA eligibility but is widely expected to turn pro. He’s a smart, two-way contributor likely in need of growing his frame in the minors... Jake Allen (35 saves) provided the goaltending the Devils have needed all season in their impressive 6-2 win Thursday night over Dallas. It just might be too late for New Jersey, though the math says it still can pick off a wild-card spot. Allen was a low-cost trade deadline pickup (Round 3, 2025 draft) and still has a year to go ($3.85 million) on the deal he carried with him from Montreal. The move, in tandem with GM Tom Fitzgerald’s decision to ditch Lindy Ruff for Travis Green behind the bench, might prove to be about a month too late . . . Despite a lot of chatter leading up to the deadline, ex-Bruin Frank Vatrano, the Springfield Rifle, remained put in Anaheim. Not surprised. First-year coach Greg Cronin really likes the 30-year-old winger, who entered weekend play as the Ducks’ leading goal scorer and point producer (29-21–50). With one more year to go on his deal ($3.65 million AAV), this stands to be the first time Vatrano has reached 30 goals in the NHL. He led the AHL with 36 goals in 36 games his first season in Providence as a Bruins prospect in 2015-16 . . . If you’ve had a Bruins road trip in mind, they’re in Washington to face the Capitals March 30 over Easter weekend. According to the National Park Service, March 23-26 is considered “peak bloom” season for D.C.’s iconic cherry trees — the rare horticulture and hockey two-fer.