After a tough weekend that saw the Edmonton Oilers drop games to both the Toronto Maple Leafs and Ottawa Senators, Elliotte Friedman and Jeff Marek had a lot to say about the team in their recent episode of 32 Thoughts: The Podcast.
Some good, some bad, and some question marks, let’s take a look at some of the juicier Oilers talk that occurred on the pod.
No one thought Zach Hyman would ever touch 50 goals
Sunday in Ottawa, Zach Hyman—whose career-high in goals before this season was 36—scored his 50th of the season, becoming the second player this year to do so.Â
As Friedman and Marek discussed, absolutely no one saw this coming.
Originally drafted by the Florida Panthers, Friedman says when he was taken most people he talked to did not see an NHL player.
After being traded to the Maple Leafs, reactions were similar. But some hockey people told Friedman they could see him thrive with a coach who believed in him. Mike Babcock did, and Hyman established himself as a very useful NHL player.
Hyman signed a seven-year, $5.5M a year contract with Edmonton in the summer of 2021. According to Friedman, the Leafs didn’t want to give him a no-movement clause after the first year of the deal, which led him to sign with the Oilers.
The Oilers are surely thankful for that.
A tough weekend for the Oilers
Edmonton played a terrible game against the Maple Leafs on Saturday night, losing 6–3 after going down 5–0 in the second period. As Friedman noted on the podcast, Edmonton got goalied by Ottawa on Sunday, but a loss is a loss.
Toronto made a point to be physical with Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl Saturday night, and the Oilers did not respond well enough.
With guys like Evander Kane and Darnell Nurse on the team, Friedman noted the front office can’t be happy with the lack of response from the non-stars.
And this leads to Kane not playing on Sunday.
While Friedman thinks he is injured, he knows people around the NHL think it was a bit suspicious. Was Kane scratched after not playing or responding well enough on Saturday? He and Draisaitl got into a bit of an argument on the bench Saturday night, could that have something to do with it?
Another big question is Jack Campbell. We’ve gone over what the team can do with Campbell this offseason, but he might be back with the club before then.
Apparently, the plan was not for Campbell to be in the AHL this long. He struggled after being sent down, so that explains part of it. Calvin Pickard has also been good, so there’s no rush in bringing Campbell back.
But as Campbell continues to improve in the American League, there’s a pretty good chance he could be back with the Oilers before the playoffs.
Will the Oilers have a new general manager next season?
Lastly, in a kind of one-off comment with not much elaboration, Friedman and Marek mentioned people around the league think Mark Hunter could be the next GM of the Oilers if Ken Holland doesn’t come back.
Holland is in the last year of his deal, so there’s no guarantee he’ll be back next year.
Hunter is an experienced executive, and people around the league have guessed he’ll be in Edmonton next season.
Refining for the playoffs
So that’s that. Not too much breaking news, but a good insight into Zach Hyman, some big questions for the Oilers after a tough weekend, and a little speculation to round things out. The team will still be focused on their playoff run and tweaking things from now until the end of the season.
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