There's no doubt Zach Hyman would have been a very good player had he stayed put, but there's a big part of the reason Hyman has been so successful, says Ken Campbell.
Zach HymanLet's get a couple of things straight.
Yes, in Year 3 of his deal with the Edmonton Oilers, Zach Hyman is proving to be an incredibly astute free-agent addition for the Edmonton Oilers. And, yes, he would still look very good in a Toronto Maple Leafs uniform.
But, no, he would not have morphed into a 50-goal scorer with the Leafs.
You see, they still only allow NHL teams to play with one puck at a time. If Hyman were in Toronto, his linemate, Auston Matthews, would be the guy who would want it on his stick most.
Hyman still could have been very good for the Leafs, certainly light years ahead of how Nick Ritchie turned out, but to suggest he would have been an elite goal-scorer with Matthews busy scoring all the goals is misguided.
Hyman is scoring because he's playing with a player who is having an historic playmaking season. Wayne Gretzky, Bobby Orr and Mario Lemieux are the only players in NHL history to record 100-assist season and, with 91 helpers and 13 games remaining, Connor McDavid is poised to join them. Thirty-two of his assists have come on Hyman's goals.
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