Oilers' fan favorite falls out of top-20 ranking; career may be slowing down
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On Wednesday, NHL producers and analysts compiled a list of who they believe are the league's top-20 wingers, though with one notable omission: Zach Hyman of the Edmonton Oilers.
Except, at least two OilersNation insiders seem to think Zack Hyman was justified in not being included as one of the prestigious list.
"When I start to look at these lists," the Insider said on a recent podcast, "like he's (Hyman) not better that Matt Boldy, he's not better than Adrian Kempe."
For clarity, Boldy and Kempe ranked 19 and 20 respectively. That Zach Hyman was ranked behind these two wingers warrants some discussion, as in many facets of the game, Hyman is in fact better, and more valuable to his team.
One reason OilerNation stated for omitting Zach Hyman from the list was because he did not follow-up his 2023-24, 54 goal campaign with another strong one. In fact, in 2024-25, Zach scored only 27 goals and 44 points in 73 games played, 30 points less than a year before.
Yet, in last season's playoffs, Zach played an integral role in the Oilers' success, recoding 5G and 6A in 15 games played, before he was injured. Were he not hurt, it might have have turned out differently for Edmonton.
In my opinion, however, goals alone should not be the decisive factor when making these lists, as seems to have been the case with Nation, at least. Zach Hyman's career ppg is .67; Kempe, who ranked 20th, has a ppg of .63.
So, is Zach Hyman's career on the decline? Again, the stats alone may suggest that he is, and also that he isn't. In 2022-23, he posted 83 points; 2023-24, 77 points, and in 2024-25, 44 points, but had a strong playoff. The 44 points is closer to his average, however; one can make the argument that he's exactly as he's always been - a solid player.
It's too early to say, really, that his value is declining. I'd like to see where he is at the end on next season, before even suggesting it; though he may not even be available at the start of the season, and may need some time to recover from his injury.
All told, Zach Hyman is a very good winger who's shown his ability to play against the league's big names. In his 6 years with the Leafs, his highest point total was 41, but was still considered indispensable on the top-line with Auston Matthews. He's only gotten better since coming to Edmonton, and playing alongside Connor McDavid.
One analyst on the OilersNation podcast asked what names from the list is Zach Hyman better than. I'll let you be the judge of that. The last 5 names, beginning with number 16, are: Jason Robertson, Alex Ovechkin (17, really?), Filip Forsberg, Matt Boldy, and number 20, Adrian Kempe.
The first 5 of the top-20 wingers are: Nikita Kucherov, David Pastarnak, Kiril Kaprisov, Mikko Rantaanen, and Mitch Marner.
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