Oilers’ Zach Hyman out for two weeks with undisclosed injury

The Edmonton Oilers won’t have one of the pillars of their top-six forward group over the next couple of weeks.

According to Jack Michaels, winger Zach Hyman will miss approximately two weeks with an injury.

Hyman suffered the injury, the nature of which is currently undisclosed, in Edmonton’s final preseason game against the Calgary Flames on September 26. Despite the injury, Hyman still played in the Oilers’ season opener on Tuesday, a 6-5 overtime loss to the Vancouver Canucks in which he went pointless in roughly 20 and a half minutes of ice time.

Last season, the Toronto native put up 31 goals and 21 assists for 52 points in 58 games played, and then contributed two goals and no assists in Edmonton’s first-round playoff loss to the Anaheim Ducks in six games.

Hyman, 34, was initially selected by the Florida Panthers in the fifth round of the 2010 NHL Entry Draft. Having not signed an entry-level deal with Florida, Hyman’s rights were traded to the Toronto Maple Leafs in exchange for forward Greg McKegg in June of 2015. After a four-year collegiate career with the University of Michigan, including his senior season of 2014-25 in which he was a finalist for the Hobey Baker Award, Hyman debuted for the Maple Leafs late in the 2015-16 season. He quickly established himself as a gritty, forechecking staple in Toronto’s lineup.

In July of 2021, Hyman signed a seven-year, $38.5 million contract with the Oilers in free agency. His production jumped playing with Connor McDavid in Edmonton, putting up a career-best 83 points in the 2022-23 season and a career-best 54 goals in the 2023-24 season. He is scheduled to become an unrestricted free agent following the 2027-28 season.

The Oilers play in Vancouver on Thursday for their second game of the season, before returning home to face the Seattle Kraken on Saturday.