Hyman dishes on Edmonton Oilers struggles and how team can rebound
The Edmonton Oilers have spent some time going through exactly what went wrong last season.
It was a weird year for the Oilers, who couldn’t seem to muster the high-level of play that helped them get to the Stanley Cup Final the previous two seasons. The team started out slow and never found their footing as they practically limped into the playoffs.
The hope was that Edmonton would hit their stride as the postseason arrived, but they instead fell flat and dropped their first-round series against an underdog Anaheim Ducks squad in just six games. It was about as bad a result the Oilers could have gotten outside of missing the playoffs altogether.
So, what went wrong? Oilers veteran forward Zach Hyman chatted about exactly that in a Monday morning appearance on TSN 1050 with Carlo Colaiacovo and Aaron Korolnek
“We can be way better,” Hyman said. “It was an up-and-down year. I started the year on the [injured reserve] for the first 20 games, and I think just throughout the whole year, I think it took us almost until February/March to win three games in a row.
“We never could find our footing.”
Among the moves made by the Oilers this summer was bringing in Mike Babcock as the new head coach.
We already know that Hyman seems thrilled to be reuniting with Babcock after having previously played for him with the Toronto Maple Leafs, but the Oilers forward also talked about the team handling the widespread criticism of the hire.
It doesn’t seem to be phasing Hyman all too much, who, by coincidence, helped to recently hire Babcock’s son, Michael, to coach the OHL’s Brantford Bulldogs. Hyman has owned the Bulldogs since January 2025.
“It was really important that the NHL and the PA did the process that they needed to do, and obviously he was cleared to coach again,” Hyman said. “As players, you talk to other players, and you get a sense of things around the league.
“As players, we were all comfortable with Babs and with what he brought, and we think that it’s something that’s going to be very good for our group.”
On the player personnel side, Edmonton moved out longtime Oilers defenceman Darnell Nurse to the San Jose Sharks in a cap-clearing trade. Hyman spoke about the difficulty of losing a player like Nurse.
“Those are always hard; there is a lot of turnover in hockey, it’s just part of the nature of the sport. It’s a lot harder when it’s someone who has been here for a long time and has only played for one team,” Hyman said. “I think it’s a great opportunity for him… I think for him he’s got an unbelievable opportunity with a young team in San Jose and they’re super lucky to have a guy like that in their room.
“We still believe we’re a team that if we get hot, we can win. We’ve been there before.”
With August quickly approaching, it won’t be long until Hyman and the rest of the Oilers can get back onto the ice and prove their doubters wrong.