The Edmonton Oilers are opting for the careful approach as another successful season nears its end. Top winger Zach Hyman will be held out of Saturday’s matchup against the Vegas Golden Knights, head coach Kris Knoblauch told Robert Tychkowski of Edmonton Sun. Hyman also sat out of Thursday’s game against the Chicago Blackhawks. The details of his injury have not been disclosed. Hyman may have played through the injury if Saturday were a playoff game, but he could instead wind up shelved for the rest of the regular season as Edmonton errs on the side of resting players, Knoblauch added. Instead, the Oilers will let him focus on recovery for as long as it takes, with a few weeks left before the start of the playoffs.
Hyman has scored nine goals and 15 points in 18 games since the Olympic break, the fourth-most on the Oilers. He is up to 31 goals and 51 points in 57 games this season, a nice bump up from his 44-point campaign last year, but still well-below the 83-point career-high he set in the 2022-23 season. A return to near-point-per-game scoring is nonetheless encouraging after Hyman missed the first 19 games of the season with a dislocated wrist sustained in Game 4 of the 2025 Western Conference Finals. Hyman told reporters that his current injury is not related to the wrist injury that held him out for nearly five months.
The Oilers are sitting in a comfortable playoff position, tied with the Anaheim Ducks for first in the Pacific Division. At the same time, they are facing a long list of injuries, including superstar forward Leon Draisaitl and depth center Mattias Janmark. Draisaitl returned to practice but won’t join Edmonton on their upcoming three-game road trip, per Sportsnet’s Gene Principe. That only emphasizes Edmonton’s focus on healing up before the postseason. They will move forward without two of their top forwards with six games remaining on the schedule – all against Western Conference competition.
Edmonton has faced the Florida Panthers in each of the last two Stanley Cup Finals. Draisaitl filled a crucial role in the 2025 Finals, leading the Oilers with eight points in six games before their eventual defeat. Hyman filled the bigger shoes in 2024, netting four points in seven games to Draisaitl’s three. Either way, the duo have been heavily utilized through the last two postseasons, with Draisaitl averaging 22 minutes of ice time through 47 games and Hyman averaging 20 minutes through 40 games. Their health will be of the upmost importance as the Oilers hope to right their wrongs and seal a Cup win this season.