Zach Hyman's third year with the Edmonton Oilers has seen his game taken to a level only a select few in royal blue and orange have reached.
Tied for the second most goals in the NHL and on pace for his first 50-goal campaign, it's safe to say it's a good time to be Zach Hyman.
When Hyman first signed with Edmonton in 2021, many assumed he would be a good complementary piece to an Oilers team led by Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl. Three years later, Hyman has been just as good as those other two players.
Hyman leads the Oilers with 46 goals — the first time he's reached the 40-goal mark — and is on track to become the first Edmonton player not named McDavid or Draisaitl to score 50 goals in a full season as an Oiler since Jari Kurri and Wayne Gretzky in 1986-87.
Hyman has been mainly entrusted with a first-line role on McDavid's wing. In turn, he has made the most of that opportunity, especially at home, where he has scored 29 goals in his past 24 games and has a point in each of the past 10 games. He is also tied with Wayne Gretzky for the franchise record of scoring in 10 straight home games.
His success hasn't just been limited to scoring at 5-on-5, as Hyman has been one of Edmonton's biggest cogs on their special teams. His 13 power-play goals rank him second in that category, only behind Draisaitl's 16.
When you look at Hyman's scoring ability, you'll notice a common theme: his best work is done as close as possible to the goal. The average distance of his goals is 12.2 feet from the goal. As well, 38 of his 46 goals this season have been high-danger area goals, leading the league in goals in that area.
"I play with unbelievable players," said Hyman. "Connor finds me backside a lot of the time and I don't have to do much to put those in. Playing with him and 'Nuggy' (Ryan Nugent-Hopkins), and sometimes Leo (Draisaitl). Also, (you're) talking about guys who are top-five in the world — the best players in the world — playing with those guys obviously gives me the opportunities to have as many looks as I do and I just try to go out and capitalize as much as I can."
Hyman's four hat tricks in 2023-24 are the second most in the NHL; only Toronto's Auston Matthews has more three-goal games (six) this season. Since 2022-23, Hyman has also scored the eighth-most goals in the NHL (82), putting him above such names as Toronto's William Nylander, Minnesota's Kirill Kaprizov and Vancouver's Elias Pettersson.
"It's pretty incredible to see how his game has developed over the past last decade," said teammate Connor Brown. "Zach has been a good friend of mine since we were in Toronto. When we were kids, we trained together when we were trying to make the league. To see the kind of success he continues to have, he's a great guy, he's a great leader, he's a guy you want on your team, he's an impressive kid and he's fun to be around."
While Hyman is focused on taking things one game at a time and contributing to the team's overall success late in the season more than focusing on chasing individual milestones, his offensive accomplishments and overall game this season have not gone unnoticed by his head coach, Kris Knoblauch.
"He's contributed so much to our team, our team environment, the leadership he provides," said Knoblauch. "He's a good checker, his forechecking and then obviously, the goal-scoring, which is the most difficult thing to do in the NHL."