Edmonton Oilers star winger Zach Hyman hits 700 NHL games, a milestone it took longer to reach than it does for many NHLers. Injuries are part of the trade-off for his robust physical game, yet his hard-nosed approach is exactly what the Oilers need more of.
Last week, in a game against the Dallas Stars, Edmonton Oilers right winger Zach Hyman played in his 700th career regular season NHL game.
But at 33 years old, Hyman is reaching the 700-game plateau relatively late.
By comparison, Pittsburgh Penguins superstar Sidney Crosby is five years older than Hyman. But Crosby, who has had his own injury struggles at times in his career, has played more than twice as many games as Hyman, 1,408.
Now, some of that is because the route Hyman had to take to the NHL wasn’t a direct line like Crosby’s. Hyman had to go on a full four-year run at the NCAA level, then spend another season with the AHL’s Toronto Marlies before sticking with the Toronto Maple Leafs at the NHL level.
Since then, Hyman has had long stretches when he’s stayed healthy, but there have also been periods when he’s been sidelined with significant injuries.
Saying that, Hyman missed a large chunk of the beginning of the 2025-26 season, yet in 52 games, Hyman has posted 29 goals. When he’s healthy, Hyman has been a major-league scoring threat. But staying healthy has proven to be difficult.
The most recent major injury Hyman suffered was in last year’s Stanley Cup playoffs, when he sustained a severe wrist injury that kept him sidelined until November of this season.
Even as one of the better power forwards in the NHL right now, Hyman is someone you acquire knowing full well he’s eventually going to have injuries of one sort or another. Hyman’s robust physical game will always have risk to it, but when he’s in the lineup, Hyman can deliver a hard-nosed game and get you goals from the areas of the ice where you must pay a huge price with your body.
Hyman has been one of the NHL’s best bargains since signing with the Oilers in 2021, and his current salary of $5.5 million runs through the 2027-28 season.
When he signs his next contract, he’ll be 36 – and at that stage, teams will have to weigh the risk of a longer-term contract for him against the possibility he rapidly depreciates as an asset due to injury concerns.
Because when you play as Hyman plays, you’re not going to win ironman records or last as long in the NHL as Jaromir Jagr did.
Zach Hyman has scored 259 goals and 489 points in 705 career games. (Stephen R. Sylvanie-Imagn Images)That said, the Oilers were comfortable giving Hyman a seven-year contract. The tradeoff was always clear – Hyman makes Edmonton harder to play against, and Edmonton gives Hyman the comfort of a long-term commitment.
After 700 games, it’s clear what Hyman brings to a team. (And the older we get, the more it feels like Hyman leaving the Leafs was the start of Toronto’s long, slow slide into mediocrity. But that’s another column for another day.) The Oilers made a savvy investment in Hyman that’s still paying dividends.
Most players don’t want to pay a huge physical price to get their job done, but Hyman willingly takes that challenge and excels at it. Hyman is unlikely to play another 700 games, but his first 700 have been as advertised.
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