‘I’m ready to go’: Still a week away, Zach Hyman raring to return to Oilers lineup

It’s been 155 days since Zach Hyman last donned the Edmonton Oilers uniform.

His last time lacing up the skates came on May 27th earlier this year in Game 4 of the Western Conference Finals, when he was hit awkwardly by then Dallas Stars winger Mason Marchment. While the play was seemingly innocuous, Hyman dropped his stick, skating right to the bench, only to find out he dislocated his wrist and would require surgery.

10 minutes into the game, his season was over, and so too has the start of his 2025-26 season. He’s missed all 11 games to start this season, but it won’t be long until he returns to the lineup.

“I’m ready to go. I’m always ready to go,” said Hyman Wednesday. “I’m going to tell you I’m ready to go because that’s how I feel.

“At the end of the day, the doctors are the ones who are there to protect you from yourself at times and make sure that when you do return that you are able and ready. And that’s how I feel. Having said that, they know more than I do.”

The Oilers have certainly missed his hard-nosed style of play that had him on pace to not only break, but smash the playoff hits record last spring. Adjusting to life without him hasn’t been the smoothest for the team in the early part of the season, sputtering to a 5-4-2 record. A plethora of linemates have cycled through the right wing spot beside Connor McDavid, where Hyman will man when he does return.

And in the eyes of head coach Kris Knoblauch, it can’t come soon enough.

“He looks ready to go — I want to put him in. Our medical staff’s holding him back, I don’t think it’s fair,” said Knoblauch with a laugh on Wednesday. “He’ll be still week to week… And we said it was bare minimum November 1st, and it won’t be November 1st, but it’ll be at least a week after that and hopefully shortly.

“We want him back. I think he looks ready, but obviously we’re looking long picture and making sure that we don’t have any setbacks.”

Getting Hyman back in the lineup would mean a lot to the team, he added.

“Zach is as good as anyone scoring goals, so he’d give us some depth there,” he said. “And also with our team, a little tenacity, a little grit and getting in on the forecheck, that kind of play would help with that.

“I like how a lot of the guys are playing, but anytime you add a star quality player like Zach would just help the team a lot and just move other guys to probably the chairs that they should be in.”