Big Concern for Oilers on the Zach Hyman Injury Front

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Zach Hyman was injured in Monday night’s game between the Edmonton Oilers and Detroit Red Wings. How bad it is remains unclear, but Hyman is likely out at least a week. It looked like a head/concussion issue as he hit his head against the boards when taking a hit from Andreas Englund.

When asked if he had an update on the status of Hyman, head coach Mike Babcock said, “You guys saw what I saw. He was injured before, anytime you get injured twice, it’s not a good sign, obviously. He’s a very important piece for us, and so that wasn’t fun to watch that.”

Babcock didn’t give an injury update, but his words didn’t sound positive. The mention of a second injury in the season and that it wasn’t fun to watch that are both indications that it could be some time before the Oilers get Hyman back. Like Mattias Ekholm, if this is a concussion issue and only minor, it will be at least a week. If it’s something more serious, the Oilers will have some tough decisions to make.

There’s also the power play impact. Vasily Podkolzin will slot back in on the top unit, but the numbers shot up when Hyman returned. Given the Oilers’ reliance on that power play to produce goals, and ultimately points in the standings, it’s no small thing to lose one of the biggest parts of that group.

“I didn’t like to see Hym’s go. We’re hoping to get guys back, not losing more guys. That affected our lineup a bit.” Babcock said. It won’t just affect the lineup for that one game. Edmonton lacks options on the wing and they’re already struggling to get production from their bottom nine. Colton Dach and Isaac Howard each got goals against Detroit. Not coincidentally, they may be the two more obvious options to move up to that second line.

There’s also the possibility of splitting Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl, something the coach has been hesitant to do so far this season.

The other option might be to search around the trade market or bring in a UFA. As Vivek Kalia wrote in an article just before the Hyman news, “With veteran winger Vladimir Tarasenko still available in free agency, the Oilers have an opportunity to address their secondary scoring without surrendering draft picks or prospects in a trade.”

If there is a silver lining here, it is that Jason Dickinson comes back on Wednesday. Otherwise, the Oilers can’t catch a break on the injury front.

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