Oilers rule out Zach Hyman for opening night, reveal new injury timeline

In last season's Western Conference Final, Zach Hyman suffered a dislocated wrist which required a major surgery and rehab process. Now, he'll need longer to get up to speed and won't be ready for opening night.

According to a new update from Coach Knoblauch at the opening day of Oilers training camp, Hyman will miss opening night and the team is now targeting a return around November 1st.

Hyman revealed in a recent interview that he's been skating through the offseason and has recently taken off his brace to start stickhandling - but his rehab has yet to progress to shooting pucks. It'll take much more time to build the strength to get his shot back to 100%.

It's incredibly unfortunate the Oilers won't have a key player like Hyman in the lineup to begin the season, but the team is deep enough to withstand his absence for a short period to start the year.

With Hyman ruled out, the pressure will now be on a few candidates in training camp who could crack the NHL roster and stay around until Hyman returns. At the end of the day, Hyman will be missed by the fans on opening night - but back and healthy for more important games.