BLOG: Hyman remaining patient in recovery from wrist injury as Oilers Main Camp opens

EDMONTON, AB – No Hyman, but no hurry.

Zach Hyman is eager to get back on the ice with his teammates as Oilers Main Camp gets underway at Rogers Place on Wednesday, but the 33-year-old isn’t rushing his recovery from off-season wrist surgery to make sure he’s fully ready when the time arrives.

The winger spoke to the media and said that while he won’t be ready to participate in the first on-ice sessions of Main Camp, he feels his recovery is “progressing really, really well” in hopes of a timely recovery. Head Coach Kris Knoblauch said on Thursday that Hyman will be out until November.

Hyman spoke on Wednesday without the wrist brace he’s worn all summer because of the fractured wrist he sustained on a hit from Mason Marchment during the first period of Game 4 of the Western Conference Final against the Dallas Stars.

The collision prompted surgery and the end of Hyman’s season – so close to competing in the Stanley Cup Final with the Oilers for a second straight year – as his focus shifted to supporting his teammates from the sidelines.

Hyman shed light on how difficult it was to sustain his injury, knowing immediately that his season was over, while having to remain positive to be the best teammate possible from the sidelines at the most crucial time of the season with the Oilers pushing for a second straight trip to the Cup Final.

"I don't know if it would have been different if I had gotten hurt in the beginning [of the season]," Hyman said. "Ekholm was hurt for the beginning of the playoffs, and it was pretty disheartening for us and for him. Then it just so happened that when I got hurt, he was coming back in the lineup, so it was nice on that front.

"Anytime you get hurt, whether it's at the beginning of playoffs or midway through or near the end like I did, it's definitely disheartening. Because for me, I pretty much knew immediately that my season was over. You kind of flip your focus just to try to help the team in a different way, an emotional support way, and just being around the guys and being positive. But when it happened, it was very, very disheartening."

Despite not being ready to skate alongside the likes of McDavid, Draisaitl and the rest of the Oilers’ extended roster for the beginning of on-ice sessions at Camp on Thursday at Rogers Place, Hyman has been able to keep up with his fitness by skating throughout the summer and is now focused on building up strength in his wrist after sporting the wrist brace for over three months.

Hyman was still wearing the brace in late August while attending Hockey Canada's National Teams Orientation Camp in Calgary as one of 42 players invited to attend who have the chance to represent their nation this coming February at the upcoming 2026 Olympics in Milan and Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy.

"That's part of coming back, right? I was in a cast for a while there," Hyman said. "So anytime you're in a cast, you're immobilized and then you gotta get out of it and get your strength back. So I'm in that mode right now, and I feel great.

"It's different than a lower-body injury. For an upper-body injury, I'm able to train my legs the entire summer. I'm able to skate, I'm able to do everything that I need to do, minus making sure that my wrist is okay, and now we're in the stage where you're really pushing the envelope and building strength back into the wrist.

"I'm very, very happy with how things have progressed and very confident that whatever date I return on, I'll be back to normal and ready to go."

Hyman didn't participate in Captain’s Skates in Edmonton before the start of Main Camp, but continues to skate on his own during his recovery. Hyman’s ability to remain on the ice throughout his rehabilitation and his lack of a wrist brace bode well for the winger’s potential availability for the Oilers to begin the regular season, but he mentioned that it’s important not to set a definitive date for these types of recoveries.

Speaking from experience, those deadlines can often lead to disappointment.

“I've had major surgery before with the knee,” Hyman said, referring to the torn ACL he suffered in April 2019 as a member of the Toronto Maple Leafs.

“Whenever you set a timeline or a date, you often get disappointed if you don't hit that date. You’re telling people what the date is, and if the date comes and you're not ready, then it's disappointment. For me internally with the group, we have little two-week blocks where we mark milestones that we check off and that we hit, and right now we are progressing very well.”

Throughout his recovery, Hyman has maintained a positive mindset, with his focus set on returning in time to begin the 2025-26 NHL season. The whole process helped him recover in other areas and prepare for the grind of an 82-game regular season plus playoffs, using the injury as fuel to prepare him for what will be his fifth season with the Oilers since signing a seven-year, $38,500,000 contract (5.5M AAV) in July 2021.

Oilers GM & Executive VP Stan Bowman expects Hyman to be the same impactful player for the Oilers when he returns – having 54 goals in 80 regular-season games and a further 16 in 25 postseason contests in 2023-24 – which he doesn't expect to drag too far into Camp or the upcoming campaign.

“He's not going to miss much time if he misses any, so I'm not worried about Zach Hyman," Bowman said. "If he doesn't skate for a day or two, that doesn't matter. Like you said, he's a vet, he's a pro. We saw last year how valuable he was, and he's going to be a big player for us this year."

At 33 years old and only 653 regular-season games of NHL experience, Hyman knows he still has plenty to give when he's ready to return, and the entire process of recovering from his wrist injury has him feel refreshed and rejuvenated for another push at winning the Stanley Cup with his Oilers teammates.

"I feel great. I feel really good," he affirmed. "When I signed my contract, I was old, so that's what everybody said (laughs). I'm 33, I feel great, and I feel excited. Anytime you have an injury, you're excited to come back because something's been taken away from you. I wasn't able to play in the Final. It's different. You're working towards a goal to get back, and there's excitement behind that, so crazy as it sounds, I feel rejuvenated with this whole process and getting back to feeling normal and getting back into game shape.

"I'm just excited for the year and being able to rejoin the guys."