Edmonton Oilers forward Zach Hyman led the NHL playoffs in hits last season when a dislocated wrist knocked him out of Edmonton’s lineup.
He was a spectator when his team fell to the Florida Panthers in the Stanley Cup final for a second straight year.
“It was very hard,” Hyman said Monday in Edmonton before Game 1 of a first-round series against the Anaheim Ducks. “Very, very hard. Way easier to play.”
Hyman had five goals and six assists and 111 hits in 15 playoff games when he was injured May 27 in Game 4 of the Western Conference final.
Hyman collided with Dallas Stars winger Mason Marchment. Hyman required surgery and sat out the first 19 games of this regular season
The loss of Hyman dented Edmonton’s scoring depth at a crucial time in the spring of 2025, but the 33-year-old doesn’t intend to change his post-season style in 2026. Hard checking is required in the playoffs, he said.
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“The play I got hurt on was a fluke play. It wasn’t a play that I was going to hit somebody,” Hyman said. “There’s no correlation between me upping the hits and me getting injured, in my opinion.
“It’s important to bring physicality in the playoffs. It’s important to elevate your game, to bring another layer. These games, everybody gets better, they’re tighter, harder to score, and it’s checking. It’s a different type of hockey than the regular season.”
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Oilers head coach Kris Knoblauch is fine with the six-foot-one, 210-pound Hyman throwing his weight around in the 2026 playoffs.
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“He’s one of the best forecheckers in the league. I don’t think he gets enough credit for that,” Knoblauch said. “He’s able to disrupt the other team’s breakouts with his physicality, his speed and having a good stick, which allows us to play a lot of time in the offensive zone.
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“Do I expect him to set records on hits? No, but if he does, that’s great, and him bringing that physicality is good for our team.”
Edmonton doesn’t rely on Hyman alone to bring the post-season muscle. Winger Vasily Podkolzin ranked third in playoff hits last season (100) and led the Oilers this regular season (242).
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Oilers forward Adam Henrique was a Duck the last time Anaheim reached the playoffs in 2018.
The Ducks were swept in the first round by the San Jose Sharks that year. Henrique then toiled through five playoff-free seasons with Anaheim before Edmonton acquired him at the 2024 trade deadline.
The 36-year-old centre from Brantford, Ont., has since reached the Stanley Cup final the last two years with Edmonton.
Henrique lauded his former longtime Ducks teammate Troy Terry for his contributions in getting Anaheim back into the playoffs.
“It looks a lot different there now than what it was when I was there, Henrique said.
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“I love Troy and have a lot of respect for him as a player. Go through a lot of tough years there, and it takes a long time to build a playoff team and a contender.
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“They’ve done a good job of building that, and he’s been a big part of that.”
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Make that 12 straight seasons of NHL playoffs for Oilers shutdown defenceman Mattias Ekholm.
Only four other active NHL players have appeared in a dozen or more consecutive post-seasons in their careers: Charlie Coyle, Ryan Reaves (13); Ryan McDonagh, Nino Niederreiter (12).
Defencemen Nicklas Lidstrom and Larry Robinson hold the NHL record with 20 straight appearances.
Ekholm still seeks a Stanley Cup after reaching the final with Nashville (2017) and Edmonton (2024, 2025).
“I don’t know what to tell you. I’ve been on very good teams, too. Let’s start there,” the 35-year-old Swede said Monday. “Everybody wants to get in the playoffs, right? To be able to do that for a long time is a good thing, but you always want to finish on top.
“I haven’t been able to do it yet, but I feel like I’m on a great team again. We’ve got as good of a shot as anybody else. Playoffs (are) awesome, but you’ve got to try and make the most of it.”
An undisclosed injury kept Ekholm out of the 2025 playoffs until Game 5 of the Western Conference final against Dallas.
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This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 20, 2026.
© 2026 The Canadian Press
