Are the Oilers making a mistake potentially signing Zach Hyman?
By Jim Lynch
The Edmonton Oilers have been linked to Zach Hyman the last few days online. Right now it seems like the team is ready to offer him a contract when free agency starts on Wednesday. While I understand adding a talented forward that can help the team win, I don’t know if the contract is worth the price.
Zach Hyman is 29 years old and put up 33 points in 43 games last season. Over the course of a full 82 game season, that would come up to about 62 points throughout the season, while that would be a great addition, for seven years might be a bit much.
The Edmonton Oilers need to be careful with their cap space.
Adding a 29-year-old to their team for seven years might be something that should be rethought for the franchise. I understand that Hyman is a great player who could be an ideal fit for Connor McDavid on the top line, but still, does this team want to have a contract like that around for another seven years?
By the end of this potential deal, Zach Hyman will be 36. By then the forward might be declining in play and not worth that kind of money. With the flat cap and a handful of other players on expiring deals in the next few seasons, this team will be looking to re-sign big-name players like Darnell Nurse and Jesse Puljujärvi to name a few. A lot of the roster is on expiring deals or has just two years left. That is not good for a team looking to win a championship right now. Then the players’ contracts will be expecting more, and not everyone can be accommodated.
I understand adding the player Zach Hyman. He is a great player to stick with a star guy like Connor McDavid. Then they really do have two good lines in McDavid and Hyman then Nugent-Hopkins and Draisaitl, the only issue is how long-term this contract is. This team might regret offering him this much money for that long. The deal is expected to be for seven years at around 5.5 million.
Free agency starts on Wednesday, which is when the deal will be in the books. So for now we will have to wait and see what deal gets done for Hyman and the Oilers. Maybe the team decides to take things in a different direction but for now, it seems like Hyman will be an Oiler next season!