Who is Zach Hyman and why do we need to pay attention to him?

Edmonton Oilers winger Zach Hyman was always a star; a star that was hidden behind a wall dedication, hard work, and proving the naysayers wrong. This season the Toronto, Ontario native finally broke down the wall at the age of 31, and he is unstoppable.

Hyman has always been a "good" hockey player.

If he wasn't "good", he wouldn't have been named a Hobey Baker Award finalist while leading the Big Ten in points (54) his senior year at the University of Michigan in 2014-15. He wouldn't have been drafted into the NHL at all — he went 123rd overall in the fifth round to the Florida Panthers. Once he finally signed an entry-level two-year NHL contract with the Toronto Maple Leafs, after being traded from the Panthers (he opted not to play for them and played collegiate), he wouldn't have moved up in the organization from the AHL into the NHL if he wasn't "good".

But "good" hockey players don't grab your attention in the NHL; the elite and special do. Hyman has made his way into this group.

In the summer of 2021 the Oilers picked Hyman up as a free agent, giving him a seven-year contract. This could go down as one of the best free agent signings for this team, as he has continued to refine his skills, dish out harder and bigger hits, and become, as I said before, a goal-scoring machine.

After facing doubts from others throughout the majority of his career, collegiate and professional, his hard work and dedication is finally paying off.

Hyman has scored more goals each year with the Oilers, reaching a career high this past season with 54. He led the team in goals scored by a landslide, as the next player on the list was notable offensive powerhouse Leon Draisaitl with 41. Hyman also ended the regular season with a +36, so let's just say it's definitely beneficial to have him on the ice when you're looking to score.

What's really interesting is his high-danger area success — which says to me that Hyman puts himself in the right place in front of the net; ready for a helper pass or a juicy rebound to catch the blade of his stick and hit the back of the net. According to NHL Edge, Hyman is in the 99th percentile in shots on goal and goals in the high-danger area. He also spends 46.7 percent of his time in the offensive zone, compared to a league average by position of 40.5 percent.

Now we're in the playoffs and playoff hockey is another animal. Every game matters. The Oilers are battling the Los Angeles Kings in round one, the series is tied one game a piece. Let's review — in Game 1 Hyman scored a hat trick as the Oilers went on to beat the Kings 7-4. In Game 2, Hyman scored a power-play goal to tie it up, and after a goal from each squad in the third, we saw the game go into OT. Kings captain Anze Kopitar buried the winner just over two minutes into the extra frame.

But Hyman has four goals in the first two playoff games. Things are just heating up, and as a Hyman fan, I hope the Oilers go deep into the postseason. He is so fun to watch and I can't wait to see how incredible he will be through the entirety of these grueling playoff games.

We all need to be like Ryan Whitney; getting motivated for another hotdog by the goal-scoring machine of Zach Hyman.