Zach Hyman isn’t expected to be ready to return to the Edmonton Oilers until the end of October. Still, there’s potentially good news that could see him return earlier than expected. Hyman hopped on the ice Friday after the team’s morning practice and worked out with the Oilers’ training staff. He looked pretty good.
Jason Gregor of Sports 1440 also noticed Hyman jumping on for a workout after the Oilers completed their media availability and the Zamboni made a run over the ice at the Downtown Community Arena (the CFR is at Rogers Place this weekend, which has commandeered the regular ice surface). Gregor writes, “Hyman is on the ice after main practice in full gear and doing lots of stickhandling as well as shooting drills on both forehand and backhand. His wrist looks to be progressing well.”
Hyman was taken out of action during the Western Conference Final last season when he collided with Mason Marchment of the Dallas Stars. He was unable to play the rest of the playoffs and missed the Stanley Cup Final versus the Florida Panthers. It was a huge loss for Edmonton as Hyman led the team in hits and brought a much-needed element to the lineup.
He’s been using this summer to rehab, and there was a point at which GM Stan Bowman said he wasn’t worried about Hyman and that he didn’t think he would miss much time. A couple of days later, Oilers fans were suddenly informed that Hyman would be out for the entire month of October. That made it sound like there had been a setback in his recovery, even though Hyman himself was never comfortable giving a timeline for his return.
That he’s on the ice and looking good is positive news. Hyman was not on the ice with the team Sunday morning.
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