EDMONTON -- Zach Hyman will not be available for the Edmonton Oilers for the start of the season, still recovering from a wrist injury sustained in Game 4 of the Western Conference Final against the Dallas Stars.
Edmonton opens the season against the Calgary Flames at Rogers Place on Oct. 8.
“Zach will, unfortunately, not be able to join us for our home opener,” Oilers coach Kris Knoblauch said Thursday. “We’re thinking, guideline, probably around November 1. So maybe a little bit earlier, maybe a little bit later, but around that timeline.”
The Oilers forward dislocated his wrist on a hit from Stars forward Mason Marchment on May 27. He had surgery the next day and missed the rest of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Hyman had 11 points (five goals, six assists) in 15 playoff games at the time of his injury. He had 44 points (27 goals, 17 assists) in 73 games last season.
Edmonton defeated Dallas in five games and lost to the Florida Panthers in the Final in six games.
"Anytime you get hurt, whether it's at the beginning of playoffs or midway through, or near the end like I did, it's definitely disheartening,” Hyman said Wednesday. “For me, I pretty much knew immediately that my season was over. You kind of flip your focus just to try to help the team in a different way, an emotional support way, and just being around the guys and being positive. But when it happened, it was very, very disheartening.”
Despite the injury, Hyman said he had been able to train his lower body in the offseason and is back on the ice on his own. The Oilers held their first on-ice sessions Thursday and will play two split-squad games against the Calgary Flames on Sunday to open the preseason.
“It’s different than a lower-body injury,” Hyman said. “For an upper-body injury, I'm able to train my legs the entire summer, I'm able to skate, I'm able to do everything that I need to do, minus making sure that my wrist is OK. Now we're in the stage where you're really pushing the envelope and building strength back into the wrist.”
