How NHL’s leading playoff goal scorer is thriving in the shadow of his superstar teammates (2024)

DALLAS — Zach Hyman scored the most Zach Hyman goal possible in the series opener of the Western Conference final.

The Edmonton Oilers forward skated down the left wing while on a second-period rush and tried to put himself in a shooting position as he anticipated a pass from linemate Connor McDavid. That pass came toward him but didn’t make it because it was intercepted by Dallas Stars blueliner Chris Tanev.

That should have been the end of the scoring chance, a decent opportunity gone amiss. Hyman had other ideas.

With the puck free in the slot for a moment, Hyman stopped and pounced. He got to it first, ahead of Tanev, and then shook off the checking from the elite defensive defenseman like it was nothing more than a gentle breeze. He slid a shot under the pads of goaltender Jake Oettinger for the Oilers’ second goal of the game.

“He’s very strong, tough to get knocked off the puck,” Oilers coach Kris Knoblauch said. “If there’s ever a 50-50 battle for a puck, he’s usually the one coming up with it.”

Rewatching the Hyman goal, it might be the best of his 66 this season. When McDavid is off to the races and you break up the pass, you deserve to not allow a goal. Hyman just muscled his way through two people and scored anyway

pic.twitter.com/2aggJBTOk4

— DJ Bean (@DJ_Bean) May 24, 2024

Given everything that happened for the Oilers in Game 1 — McDavid’s overtime roller coaster, the elite penalty killing and Stuart Skinner’s superb goaltending — it’s easy to forget about Hyman’s contribution in the 3-2 win.

That’s a microcosm of his playoffs.

Hyman has been overshadowed by McDavid, Leon Draisaitl and Evan Bouchard, among others. Yet there he is leading the NHL with 12 goals — within shouting distance of the record for a single postseason shared by Reggie Leach and Jari Kurri. They each had 19 in 1975-76 and 1984-85.

Thursday’s marker bumped Hyman to 66 goals scored since the puck dropped for real in October. On this Oilers team — armed with a transformational superstar and another future Hockey Hall of Famer — it’s not hard to be overlooked.

Put Knoblauch in that category — at least before he got the job in November.

“I knew Zach was always a good hockey player, a hard worker and honest,” the coach said. “I didn’t realize how good he is.

“Obviously, you see the goal scoring. A lot of that has to do with Connor McDavid setting him up, Leon on the power play and a lot of our players.”

Even as Knoblauch praised Hyman, McDavid’s and Draisaitl’s names came up. Not that you’ll ever hear Hyman complain about that.

He spent the first six seasons of his NHL career playing for his hometown Toronto Maple Leafs and took a back seat to the Core Four of Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner, William Nylander and John Tavares.

The thought of coming to the Oilers as a free agent in 2021 to play behind McDavid and Draisaitl acted as a carrot rather than a deterrent.

“It’s one of the reasons I chose to come here — to play with the core that was here and be a part of the group,” Hyman said. “I just thought that I would fit in pretty well.

“I wanted to play with the best players in the world and have an opportunity to win. That’s the key. When I was a free agent, I just wanted to go to the place that would have the best chance to win. I thought it would be Edmonton. I’m obviously very happy with the decision.”

Hyman has been an integral part of the Oilers’ success over the last three seasons. They’re playing in their eighth postseason series since his arrival when they’d advanced to the second round just once in the McDavid era beforehand.

He’s been the best free-agent signing in franchise history and on the short list of the most effective high-profile ones in the cap era.

The 31-year-old doesn’t wear a letter, but he’s an essential part of the team’s leadership core. All he’s done is improve each year.

However, it’s hard for Hyman to get his due — love from renowned NBA big man Shaquille O’Neal aside.

Another piece of the Shaq Hyman lore just dropped! 😮‍💨@SHAQ sent Zach Hyman a special gift. 🎁 #StanleyCup

(📸: @NabilKarimTV) pic.twitter.com/FXCW4AUSTV

— NHL (@NHL) May 16, 2024

Hyman doesn’t score the McDavid end-to-end beauties. Ripping one-timers past goalies from the corner like Draisaitl are few and far between.

Instead, his goals tend to go in from around the blue paint. Nine of the 12 in the playoffs have come from the crease or just in front of it, per NHL Edge, which aligns with his regular-season production rate.

Though he’s taken pride in improving his skills, Hyman scores most often thanks to good positioning, his smarts and, of course, his hard work.

“You saw in Zach’s goal (in Game 1). It’s just strength and will to want to put the puck in the net,” Oilers defenseman Brett Kulak said. “He makes it look easy at times — even if people comment on his tap-in goals or whatever.

“It’s not easy to get the puck there and get it into the back of the net. You’ve got to know what you’re doing, and you’ve got to want to put it in. It’s that mentality that’s made him so successful.”

The value of hard work was instilled in Hyman and his four younger brothers by their father, Stuart, and his father, the boys’ grandfather, Steve.

Steve grew up in Montreal before moving to Toronto, where he became a successful real-estate developer. Stuart followed in that line of work and provided the world for his children, including those in minor hockey where he owned 90 teams around the Toronto area.

But the boys would have to earn their spots based on merit. That’s where the extra effort came in. Hyman refused to be outworked and set the standard for his siblings through endless family competitions.

As Spencer, the second oldest at 17 months younger, said, the boys had a prize called “the champ of the house” — the victor of the day’s challenge whether road hockey, tennis or video games. If teams were required, it was usually Hyman and Cooper (the second youngest) versus Spencer and Oliver (the middle boy).

(Shane, the baby of the quintet, is 11 1/2 years younger than Hyman who captained the Ontario Junior Hockey League’s Markham Royals, so he was usually kept out of the brother battles back then. Now, pickleball is a summer contest.)

Hyman seldom gave his younger siblings advantages and offered no quarter in fights for household supremacy.

“All in love, and all trying to make each other better,” Spencer said. “There was no handicap. The best man’s going to win.”

In Spencer’s eyes, his older brother was the ideal role model and provided the template for “how to do things the right way.”

“My parents taught us that nothing is given; everything is earned,” Spencer said. “We were very lucky to grow up in a comfortable life that they provided for us. But just like they did, we have to. You have to earn everything that you get in life. That’s something Zach carries on to hockey.”

Hyman has certainly earned what he’s gotten in the NHL. Vancouver Canucks winger Phil Di Giuseppe is sure of that.

Di Giuseppe was Hyman’s teammate at the University of Michigan for Hyman’s first three seasons there. Hyman’s ice time was sparse in those first two campaigns, and he needed an injury from a teammate in his junior season to move up the lineup.

Hyman’s confidence took a hit before he got his break, but he never stopped trying to round out his game and earn the trust of Hall of Fame coach Red Berenson. Hyman never looked back as a senior and was the school’s male athlete of the year after recording 22 goals and 54 points in 37 games.

“I’m not surprised by his success,” Di Giuseppe said. “He’s always been hardworking. He’s always near the top or at the top of the dryland training and the skates we had.

“Now you’re seeing the fruits of his labor. He’s a specimen off the ice. He takes his training seriously.”

Hyman’s never-give-up mindset has gotten him where he is today. He’s worked his way up from the grinder on a line with Matthews and Nylander to being a star alongside McDavid and a fixture on the greatest power play in NHL history.

Still, regardless of what he does, the song remains the same. It always will.

Hyman will never get as much of the spotlight as his all-world teammates. His understated profile only plays into that.

There isn’t much sizzle, but there is a lot of steak.

“You talk about the benefits of playing with a skilled player, well, you talk about the benefits of a skilled player playing with a guy like Zach Hyman is you get the puck a lot more — on the breakouts, on the forecheck,” Knoblauch said. “He’s so efficient on the breakout, getting the puck to the center and making that next play. On the forecheck, there’s so many times when he’s in, disrupting things — either forcing the defenseman to make a poor decision or just coming up with that puck by himself.

“No matter who he’s been playing with, he’s a good complementary piece.”

(Photo of Zach Hyman: Cooper Neill / Getty Images)

Daniel Nugent-Bowman is a staff writer who covers the Edmonton Oilers for The Athletic. Daniel has written about hockey for Sportsnet, The Hockey News, Yahoo Canada Sports and the Saskatoon StarPhoenix. Follow Daniel on Twitter @DNBsports