3 Edmonton Oilers who have been a surprise so far in 2023-24

3) Zach Hyman

Okay, so our final selection needs a bit of clarification, given that it's no surprise Zach Hyman is playing well for the Oilers. You only need look back on his first two seasons in Edmonton for evidence of this.

Consider that in Hyman's first season with the Oilers, he set new personal bests with 27 goals, 27 assists and 54 total points. He also -- at that point -- produced the second best CF and FF percentages of his NHL career.

Then last season, the 31-year-old took his game to new heights, by setting new standards for his personal bests. These included 36 goals, 47 assists, 83 total points, a 59.3 CF percentage and 58.2 FF percentage.

Of course getting the opportunity to play in a top six which contains the likes of Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl helps, but you still have to make good on the opportunities which come your way. In this respect, while never regarded as a natural goal-scored, Hyman has undoutbedly created a knack for coming through in front of net.

In this respect, we now come to why the Toronto native is our third choice as one of the Oilers who has been a surprise so far in 2023-24. More specifically, the frequency with which he has scored goals up to this point of the season.

At the time of posting, Hyman is leading the Oilers with 19 goals, five ahead of Draisaitl in second place with 14. On a league-wide level he is tied fifth among all players, along with Sam Reinhart and no less an authority than Sidney Crosby.

Over the course of the season, Hyman would be projected to score 51 goals, which would easily be a new personal best. (This is based on 81 games, with him so far missing one.) Combined with his current assist ration -- he has 12 up to this point -- he would just set a new overall personal best points total of 84.

Whether the 2010 fifth rounder can keep up his current pace remains to be seen. Regardless, the seven-tear, $38.5 million deal he signed with the Oilers is looking more and more like a bargain over time, after initially being criticised by many as too generous.