The Edmonton Oilers are riding high after a 4-1 smackdown of the Dallas Stars in Game 4 of the Western Conference Final at Rogers Place. The crowd’s buzzing, Connor McDavid’s slinging passes like a magician, and Zach Hyman’s out there throwing his weight around like a human wrecking ball. But then, boom—9:17 into the first period, everything screeches to a halt. Hyman, the heart and soul of Edmonton’s top line, takes a brutal hit and limps off the ice. Oilers Nation? Collectively holding its breath.

Hyman was doing what he does best: grinding it out, carrying the puck out of Edmonton’s zone with that relentless energy. Then, Dallas Stars’ Mason Marchment crashes into him, slamming Hyman’s right shoulder as he tried to slip past Esa Lindell. The hit was uglier as Hyman’s stick bounced off the ice, he bee-lined to the bench, and then disappeared down the tunnel to be evaluated by the training staff.

Poof, the playoff monster of a player who had been an absolute beast in the postseason, was gone, leaving a huge lineup hole. After the game, Oilers coach Kris Knoblauch had little to say, and who could blame him? You don’t release news like this quickly. “I always wait to get the final (assessment) after he sees the doctor and review,” Knoblauch said, as reported by Oilers reporter Daniel Nugent-Bowman on X. “I’ll just wait until tomorrow and give you the update then.” Fair enough, but that wait? It’s torture for fans.

Let‘s discuss what Zach Hyman has to offer, because this is no ordinary injury. The guy’s been a complete force this postseason, piling up the most hits in the entire NHL at an astonishing 111 in just 15 contests. That‘s worlds apart from his 59 hits in 73 regular-season games—he‘s turned it on and become a playoff beast. Add his 11 points, five goals, and six assists, good for fifth on the Oilers, and you’ve got a guy who’s not just grinding but producing. He’s the engine on McDavid’s line, a power-play menace, and a penalty-kill warrior. Losing him, even for a game, is like pulling the plug on a machine mid-cycle.

To complicate things even more, Edmonton was already dealing with a shortage of players. Connor Brown is still nursing an injury from a hit he took in Game 3, which forced the Oilers to make some adjustments, putting Victor Arvidsson in Hyman’s place. Arvidsson is a solid player, but Hyman is something special—he’s a mix of a grinder and a scorer, with a ton of heart. This injury is a tough blow, especially after Hyman and McDavid lit up Dallas for two goals each in that 6-1 victory in Game 3. The Oilers are still in the game, but losing Zach Hyman makes it a steeper challenge. Fans are glued to their screens, eagerly awaiting tomorrow’s update, hoping their playoff powerhouse will be back in action soon.

Edmonton Oilers’ Zach Hyman has evolved into a hit machine in this year’s NHL playoffs

Hyman is making waves in the 2025 NHL playoffs, and it’s not just because of his goal-scoring ability. The Edmonton Oilers’ forward has become a real powerhouse, racking up an impressive 111 hits in the first 15 playoff games—just look at the sports card above! That puts him way ahead of Florida’s Sam Bennett, who has managed 72 hits. Zach Hyman is averaging 7.4 hits per game, which is almost hard to believe, especially since he’s only nine hits away from his career high of 117, achieved during a full 82-game season with Toronto back in 2017-18.

Sure, we could talk about Stuart Skinner’s goaltending or Connor McDavid’s offensive wizardry in Game 3, but Zach Hyman’s physicality is the story stealing the show. After a regular season where his goal count dropped to 27 from an impressive 54 the previous year, he’s still been a magnet for action, racking up 37.8 individual expected goals. Now, as the playoffs roll in, he’s channeling that energy into some bone-crushing hits. His two goals in Game 3 were a nice bonus, bringing his postseason total to five, but it’s his relentless checking that’s really got everyone talking.

“He’s a wrecking ball out there,” McDavid said after Game 3, grinning like a kid who just scored front-row seats to a superhero movie. And the numbers support that claim. Since the NHL began tracking hits in the 2007-08 season, only a select few players—icons like Dustin Brown and Blake Coleman—have surpassed Hyman’s current playoff hit total in a single postseason. Among the 352 players with 50 or more hits in a playoff run, Hyman’s per-game hit rate is at the very top.

Zach Hyman isn’t just throwing his weight around; he’s redefining what it means to be a physical powerhouse in the playoffs. As the Oilers push further into the postseason, all eyes are on their hit machine, showing that there’s so much more to his game than just scoring goals.