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Playoff goals: Zach Hyman already has more in Edmonton than Matthews ever had in his career

 Matthew Garcia
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Playoff goals: Zach Hyman already has more in Edmonton than Matthews ever had in his career
Credit: Photo by Derek Cain/Getty Images

A change of scenery in the world of sports, whether it’s a change of team via a transaction or a signing, often allows a player to get his bearings and bounce back.

This isn’t always the case, but in general, a change of scenery can’t hurt a player.

In recent NHL hockey, for example, Kirby Dach and Artturi Lehkonen both exploded on their new teams.

Why am I talking about a change of scenery?

Because there’s one that fascinates me more and more every year.

I want to talk to you today about Zach Hyman.

The Edmonton Oilers forward quickly established himself as one of the Oilers’ best players from the moment he arrived in Edmonton, and even more so this year, he established himself as an excellent goal scorer, and even one of the NHL’s best.

I know his 54-goal season has been roundly criticized as not being all that impressive because of the many goals he easily scores on the power play with Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl, but still.

Scoring over 50 goals in a season takes some doing.

And what’s even more impressive in Hyman’s case is that he raises his game even higher in the playoffs.

This season, Hyman already has ten playoff goals in just 11 games. That’s an impressive haul, and one that’s helping the Oilers perform well in the playoffs.

The bottom line is that Zach Hyman has undergone a metamorphosis since leaving the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Before joining the Oilers, Hyman had scored just five goals in five playoff seasons (32 games), and had never made it past the first round.

Since then, Hyman has scored 24 goals in three playoff seasons (39 games).

By comparison, Auston Matthews, considered the NHL’s all-time leading scorer, has just 23 career playoff goals in eight seasons (55 playoff games).

Yes, yes, you read that right, Hyman already has more playoff goals in just three seasons than Matthews has in his entire NHL career.

It’s completely mind-boggling, and just goes to show once again how nothing works in Toronto with this group.

There’s something wrong (some would say a curse) with the Maple Leafs, and this simple statistic proves it.

Hyman was roundly criticized in Toronto for not being able to perform consistently in the playoffs, and here he is emerging as one of the best playoff players since he left Toronto.

With only two more playoff goals this season, Hyman would already have more than half of Matthews’ career playoff goal total.

In short, this change of scenery will have truly changed Hyman’s career, and at the age of 31, he has established himself as a player with 70+ points and 30+ goals per year.


In a gust

– Read more.

– Indeed.

– Here’s the podium at the Imola Grand Prix in Italy.

– Here are the final moments of the race.

– To be continued.

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