Hyman a tough man to replace
Winger flourishes in Edmonton as Leafs search for solutions on left wing
While Maple Leafs coach Sheldon Keefe moves his left wingers around every couple of games or so, looking for that magic elixir, followers of the team can only look west, to Edmonton, and wonder what might have been had Zach Hyman remained in Toronto.
Hyman has eight goals and six assists, a driver on a line with Connor McDavid and Jesse Puljujärvi, looking very comfortable wearing No. 18 in Oilers orange, blue and white.
“I think things are going really well, actually,” said Hyman, reached Tuesday on the Oilers video conference call. “I’m really happy with how everything has gone in Edmonton. I’m really enjoying playing here, getting to know the guys and getting to know the city.”
In essence, Hyman has been everything the Leafs lack on the left side, and everything the Oilers hoped they were getting.
“Very solid. Great teammate. Great work ethic,” said Oilers coach Dave Tippett. “From a coaching standpoint, there’s so many situations he can touch in a game. That makes him a very valuable player.”
Tippett’s words are no surprise to anyone that has followed Hyman’s growth as a hockey player, and echo what his previous coaches have long said about him, including Keefe.
Last year, Hyman had 33 points in 43 games, a career year in terms of points per game at 0.77. At 29, he is in his prime. Any team that wanted to win now ought to have been interested in Hyman’s services.
Maybe one-quarter way into the season — the Leafs play Game 21 of 82 on Wednesday in Los Angeles — is too soon to cast judgment on summertime moves. But the left side has been a gaping hole for Keefe, with Nick Ritchie yet to score, Ilya Mikheyev (thumb) yet to play, and Kyle Clifford re-acquired
from St. Louis.
The story goes that Leafs GM Kyle Dubas decided not to pursue Hyman over the summer because he wouldn’t have been able to fit him in under the team’s restrictive salary cap. The story also goes that Hyman would have taken less to stay with the Leafs.
Hyman signed in Edmonton for seven years, at $5.5 million (U.S.) a year. Though the Oilers may regret the last couple of years of that deal when Hyman is in his mid-30s, his acquisition has helped turned the Oilers into true Stanley Cup contender status.
In Dubas’s defence, he faced a fight on another front, in net. Frederik Andersen also left, for cap hit of $5 million, another price tag deemed too rich for the capstrapped Leafs.
Faced with the prospect of going with an unproven Jack Campbell in net, Dubas sought a reliable backup, or even someone who could handle half the load.
So Dubas invested heavily – relative to the amount available in their cap space — in two players: Nick Ritchie, at a cap hit of $2.5 million a year, for two years. And Petr Mrázek, at a cap hit of $3.8 million for three years.
It’s a decision Dubas may rue.
That’s $6.3 million worth of players who have produced zero goals, three assists and one win through 20 games. Mrázek’s groin issues — which have dogged him the past few years — have kept him out of all but two games.
Dubas could have had Hyman for less. Maybe he didn’t want to get caught up in a seven- or eight-year deal for Hyman, fretting – as the analytically inclined tend to — what Hyman might look like at the tail end of the deal.
Hyman’s six goals on the left side is one shy of what all Leaf left wingers have produced: Michael Bunting with four, Alex Kerfoot with two and Pierre Engvall with one.