The Stanley Cup Final begins (finally) tonight. A fantastic final is in store for those who haven’t given up on the current NHL series despite a thousand five full days without hockey.
Warren Foegele and Philip Broberg will be wearing uniforms for the Oilers tonight. Thus, we can presume that Corey Perry and Vincent Desharnais will forego their turn.
While in Edmonton, it will be a fantastic chance to watch Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl compete for the big prize. They will undoubtedly need to pull their team up by its bootstraps, but fortunately, this year they have a strong support system.
Among them is third-year Edmontonian Zach Hyman. Hyman, who scored 54 goals this season after signing on the open market in the summer of 2021, has improved even further since leaving Toronto.
And following Game 1 of the Finals yesterday, Hyman was questioned about leaving Toronto in 2021. Nevertheless, as TVA Sports revealed this morning, he poked fun at his old team:
What we do know with certainty is that the team, not the player, decided to allow Hyman to depart Toronto. It’s likely that the Leafs felt it was time to let Hyman go after giving the Core Four (as well as Morgan Rielly) such a large salary.
The Oilers considered Hyman’s seven-year, $5.5 million contract to be a significant risk at the time. It was successful, but by the summer of 2021, opinions had divided.
Ultimately, Hyman conducted a market test and swiftly concluded that Edmonton was the ideal location for him to pursue his career. Three years later, he feels prepared to declare that this choice, which he was able to make this time, is the wisest choice I’ve ever made.
And because he’s just four games away from taking home the Stanley Cup, it’s difficult to disagree with him.
Hyman will have the chance to make the Leafs regret their choice in the next few days. and in order to accomplish that, he must defeat the Florida Panthers, the team who picked him in 2010.
As they say, everything hangs in the balance.
In a nutshell: He declared yesterday that he was leaving the media. We hope the best for him.
