Coach Mike Babcock said the top-line center is out day to day, but then added, “I told you I think that (day to day) means two weeks, right?”
Babock said Hyman, 34, was injured in the Oilers’ final preseason game against the Calgary Flames on Saturday. He did play 20:33 in a season-opening 6-5 overtime loss against the Canucks in Edmonton on Tuesday.
Hyman, who had 52 points (31 goals, 21 assists) in 58 games last season, was held pointless in the season-opening loss.
He has 495 points (261 goals, 234 assists) in 712 regular-season games with the Oilers and Toronto Maple Leafs.
It’s the second injury to a top-six forward for the Oilers in the past two days. Second-line center Ryan Nugent-Hopkins is also out with a lower-body injury sustained in practice on Monday and was placed on injured reserve on Wednesday.
Center Josh Samanski was called up from Bakersfield of the American Hockey League under emergency conditions on Wednesday and the 24-year-old will make his season debut in Vancouver, just his 25th game in the NHL.
“For me, obviously I got to figure out who they are,” said Babcock, who is in his first season as the Oilers coach. “But for them, what an opportunity. If you're a young guy or you're a new guy and you're trying to find a role on a team, we're trying everything because we're trying to figure it out ourselves.
“And so you might say it's not ideal, but in another way it's really ideal, and a little adversity at the start of the year never hurt anybody. Let's dig in.”
Hyman, now in his sixth season with the Oilers, is a big part of Edmonton’s top line and power play unit. He had 10 of the 68 power-plays goals the Oilers’ top-ranked unit (30.6 percent) scored last season.
The Oilers (0-1-0) were 1-for-4 on the power play in the season opener.
