Edmonton Oilers' Hyman eying 50th goal against former Maple ...
Published Mar 22, 2024 • Last updated 2 hours ago • 4 minute read
The Toronto Maple Leafs didn’t let a 50-goal scorer slip from their grasp in Zach Hyman.
Not yet, anyway.
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But they will.
And chances are they might even have a front-row seat to see it when they do.
The Edmonton Oilers forward picked up his 47th and 48th goals of the season in an 8-3 undressing of the Buffalo Sabres at Rogers Place on Thursday, setting up a happy homecoming, of sorts, Saturday when the Oilers visit Scotiabank Arena.
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Well, happier for one side than the other, that is.
When the Oilers landed Hyman in free agency in July 2021, they knew they were getting a 20-goal scorer. What Maple Leafs didn’t realize was just how high his potential might reach when they didn’t clear the cap space to bring him back for a seventh season.
As a rookie, Hyman landed in the lap of the Maple Leafs back in 2010. The 123rd-overall draft pick by the Florida Panthers, Hyman declined to sign a contract with them and chose instead to join his hometown team and earn his way up into their ranks by proving himself on the farm with the Toronto Marlies of the American Hockey League.
And rise, he did. In 345 games, he earned 86 goals and 99 assists for 185 points with the Maple Leafs.
Unsigned in the end, Hyman up and maple left, instead making his way to Edmonton where he immediately set a career high with 27 goals, before eclipsing it with 36 the next season. This year, he has been a staple on the top line with Connor McDavid, who is looking to become just the fourth player in NHL history to reach 100 assists in a season.
And that’s put Hyman on pace for 60 goals this season, never mind the big 5-0. But the next stop is 50 goals, and that station could very well be back in Toronto.
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“Oh, yeah. Obviously, it would be special. But I’m not focused on it,” Hyman said after a long, long pause when asked what it would mean scoring his 50th back where it all began, against the team that let him get away.
“But really, I just want to win there,” he recovered. “I don’t think I’ve won there since I’ve been here. So, it’d be great to go in there and win.”
No, great would be sticking it to his former team with a couple of goals and winning. But Hyman might be the last guy to offer up that sort of bulletin-board material. Especially knowing the Toronto media would be clamouring to get a piece of him at Saturday’s morning skate if he did.
“I’m sure he will be asked about that between now and Saturday. I would think there is maybe something there,” McDavid said following Thursday’s win. “He has got close ties in Toronto, he grew up there, born and raised. He has lots of friends and family who are going to be in the building.
“It would be special for him, but he might tell you otherwise, I don’t know. It would be great to see him get there in Toronto.”
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It’s not out of the realm of possibility, of course. Hyman has 10 games with multiple goals already this season, including four hat tricks.
His head coach didn’t hesitate when it came to just how big a deal it would be, not just for Hyman but the entire team, to see him come up big once again in the next game.
“We’ve talked about Zach being a crucial and very well-liked player on the team,” Kris Knoblauch said. “Everyone appreciates what a selfless guy he is, inspirational for all the other players. Long route to the NHL and now he’s become a pretty big star for somebody approaching 50 goals.
“If he gets that milestone, the team will be so happy and proud of what he’s accomplished. To get that mark would be incredible and to do it at home … we’ll see if we can get him some shifts.”
He had 21 of them Thursday for a total of 17:30 with eight shots on net, scoring his first goal in the final minute of the second period to tie it 3-3 and open the floodgates on six unanswered goals against the Sabres.
“I thought he was solid again,” McDavid said. “He did his thing at the net and found a way to score a big goal there before the end of the period.
“That is a massive goal, it really is. He’s always around the net making things happen and I thought he was good again.”
E-mail: [email protected]
On Twitter: @GerryModdejonge
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