Hyman's 'wrecking ball' approach setting playoff tone for Oilers

EDMONTON -- Zach Hyman recently was referred to as a "wrecking ball" by Edmonton Oilers teammate Connor McDavid.

Truth be told, there were times this season when it felt more like Hyman himself had been flattened by one.

"I mean, it seemed like one thing after another," the Oilers forward told NHL.com on Monday. "There was the time I had a concussion. There was the time a puck smacked me in the face and broke my nose. There were a couple of other physical things."

Not to mention some of the emotional beatings he took.

Coming off a Cinderella 2023-24 season in which he had an NHL career-high 54 goals, the 32-year-old staggered out of the gates with just one assist in his first 10 games. He didn't score until Game 11.

All the while, Canada's management group for the 4 Nations Face-Off tournament watched him take himself out of consideration for the team.

Add it all up, and his frustration was tangible. Yet he stayed the course, no matter how many hits to his confidence he absorbed.

Now, during the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs, it is Hyman who is delivering the hits. And at a record pace, too.

Hyman entered play Monday leading the NHL with 109 hits in 14 games during the Stanley Cup Playoffs, 31 more than the 78 dished out by second-place Sam Bennett of the Florida Panthers. He's just 17 behind the all-time mark of 126 for a single playoff season set by Blake Coleman with the Tampa Bay Lightning in 2020.

Given that he's had a total of 19 the past two games against the Dallas Stars in the Western Conference Final, he could set the record by the end of this best-of-7 series, which Edmonton leads 2-1 heading into Game 4 here Tuesday (8 p.m. ET: CBC, TVAS, SN, ESPN, ESPN+).

"You just have to keep coming," Hyman said. "No matter what adversity you face, you have to keep coming. It's what I do. It's what our entire team does.

"It's not like you go into every shift saying I'm going to hammer this guy or that guy. But it's playoffs. It's about doing everything you can, taking the body every time you can. It's a mindset you have to have. Our whole team is like that. Guys are doing things outside their comfort zone because that's what it takes.

"You keep repeating that, and eventually the other team starts getting worn down."

The Oilers hope that's the case with Stars stud defenseman Miro Heiskanen, who sustained a knee injury Jan. 28 and did not return to the lineup until Game 4 of the Western Conference Second Round against the Winnipeg Jets on May 13.

The constant pounding already seems to be having an effect on 23-year-old Thomas Harley, the Stars' top defenseman during the regular season who has been shaky in the first three games against the Oilers, with zero points and a minus-2 rating.

Admittedly, Hyman is sheepish when asked what it would mean to be known as the hits record holder for one playoff season, especially when thinking of power forwards past and present like Bennett, Matthew Tkachuk, Milan Lucic and Tom Wilson. The NHL, for the record, has been tracking hits since the 2005-06 season.

"I mean, I don't know what to say, you're the first person that's ever framed it like that," he said with a chuckle. "I mean, I haven't even thought about it like that. It's all about the team and what it takes for us to get over the hump and win the Stanley Cup.

"Whatever it takes."

For perspective on Hyman's hit parade, consider this: Coleman set his record in 25 games, and Hyman has needed only 14 to approach that mark.

"He's kind of a bull out there," Oilers teammate Evander Kane said.

Hyman was a one-man wrecking crew against Dallas in Game 3, scoring two goals, registering 10 hits and finishing plus-5 in Edmonton's 6-1 victory.

"It's impressive to watch, amazing to watch, and I get a front row seat to it every night," McDavid said after the game. "He's a wrecking ball out there right now.

"Everybody's buying in, though, and doing things that maybe aren't the most comfortable thing, or the thing they're most used to doing, and obviously he's leading the way that way."

Coach Kris Knoblauch agrees.

"You can have any player wanting to finish checks, but you also have to have awareness of how to get there and also having the speed," he said. "Zach's quietly a very quick player. He's fast. He can get up and down the ice."

Had he ever had as complete a game like he did in Game 3, even dating to his days playing minor hockey for the Toronto Red Wings?

"A scoreline like that?" he said after taking a few seconds to contemplate the idea. "No, not really. Not at any level.

"It was a good time for our entire team to play like that."

It hasn't always been good times for Hyman and the Oilers during the past 12 months.

There was the heartbreak of losing 2-1 to the Florida Panthers in Game 7 the 2024 Stanley Cup Final. With McDavid and his teammates emotionally crushed, it was Hyman who stood up and declared to them, "I know we’re going to be back."

A summer of healing. A slow start to the season. The injuries. Missing out on the 4 Nations gig. Finishing with 27 goals, tied for his fewest in four seasons with the Oilers.

And now, through it all, here he is, playing his best hockey of the past 11 months with 11 points (five goals, six assists) in 14 games, all those hits, and a plus-10 rating that's tied with McDavid for second on the Oilers, behind defenseman Jake Walman at plus-12.

"The 4 Nations, I mean, it's always an honor to represent your country," Hyman said. "It just didn't work out. It was disappointing. I didn't watch all of it but I watched the important games. And to see Connor score the tournament-winning goal in overtime to beat the U.S. in the title game, I was so happy for him. He deserved it.

"As for what we learned last year, look, we came so close but still came one goal short. This is a different team now. We play differently. We learned how much of a grind it is to get to where you want to go so you have to keep grinding, keep wearing on the opposition, keep being relentless."

Which is what Hyman himself is doing right now at a record pace.