Oilers Looking to Zach Hyman To Break Out of Major Scoring Slump Without McDavid

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Ryan Hall
October 30, 2024 (8:48)

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It's been a tough start to the season especially for several stars on the Oilers including Oilers forward Zach Hyman who will be called upon to snap out of his funk after losing Connor McDavid to injury.

This season had high hopes for the organization, their newly acquired players and a general sense that the team is ready to build from their Stanley Cup run last year. But that's not been the case as the Oilers are currently sitting 4-5-1 through their first 10 games of the year. Aside their sputtering power play, the Oilers have had glaring holes in their offense especially with Hyman as he has not scored a goal in 10 games.

Hyman has been steadily improving his offensive touch since arriving with the Oilers after spending several years with the Toronto Maple Leafs. Last season was his breakout year as he scored 54 goals during the regular season along with a 16-goal playoff run which elevated his status in the team and many felt that this would be a trend that could continue.

There are many factors to why he was so successful including a high shooting percentage where he shot 18.6% with 290 shots last year which was significantly higher than the league average of 95 shots on goal and a shooting percentage of 10.3%.

This season, he's only had 28 shots on goal with no goals and 0% in shooting percentage. That is an alarming drop, and one can't help wondering why this has happened.

Another factor could be his age as he is now 32 years old and may have just passed the peak of his prime and may beginning the downswing of his career. But likely, it may be as simple as other teams are now marking him to be watched and shadowed which has happened throughout the years in the NHL especially when a player has a breakout season like he did.

But the potential long term loss McDavid, it's likely Hyman may not reach the goals scored last year and could even be below 25 goals this year.

It's up to Hyman to change his game or find ways to separate himself to get back to his shooting percentage he had and putting himself in a better position to scoring goals close to the net where he did much of his damage last year. The Oilers are still on the road and are set to have a Halloween night game against the Nashville Predators which will take place at 8:00 PM eastern.