Photo Credit: Michael Miller, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Oh, The Hymanity
Former Toronto Maple Leafs player, Zach Hyman, is having an outstanding season in Edmonton this year with 25 goals and 60 points in 50 games played, good for a 42 goal, 98 point pace through 82 games, a career high in both categories.
A favourite among Toronto Maple Leafs fans during his tenure here, many were disappointed when Hyman was not extended and ultimately left for free agency in the summer of 2021.
At $5.5M AAV per season Zach Hyman represents extremely good value for the Oilers, as his goals and points totals are higher than most of his former teammates, including Mitch Marner, John Tavares, and Auston Matthews, all of whom, at $11M per season, net twice what Hyman makes. (CapFriendly)
Hyman's Time With Toronto
Zach Hyman became a member of the Toronto Maple Leafs on June 19, 2015, when now current general manager, Kyle Dubas, who was acting as interim co-GM along with Mark Hunter at the time, acquired him via trade with the Florida Panthers.
Dubas traded Greg McKegg, who was a round three pick in the 2010 NHL draft for the Leafs, to the Florida Panthers in exchange for the popular winger, after Florida was unable to reach an agreement with Hyman and sign him to entry level contract after selecting him in fifth round of the same draft year.
The trade was a rare win for Kyle Dubas, as Hyman amassed 86 goals and 185 points in 345 games played with the Toronto Maple Leafs, while McKegg would go on to record only 21 goals and 39 points in 233 games while playing for a whopping seven different organizations, and is currently toiling away in the AHL playing for the Carolina Hurricanes farm team.
Unfortunately for Toronto, Kyle Dubas was unable to come to an agreement when it came time to extend Zach Hyman in the summer of 2021, citing the length of contract Hyman's camp was seeking, and ultimately the power forward left for greener pastures with the Edmonton Oilers.
A Case Study In Dubas Asset Management
Most fans associate losing Hyman as a result of the Toronto Maple Leafs Studs'n'Duds roster building philosophy: Hyman was squeezed out as a result of gross cap mismanagement.
A fan favorite lost for a few dollars in cap hit used to pay the core four.
When it came time to extend Hyman, Dubas balked at the length of term the popular winger was seeking and began negotiating his rights to a sign and trade with the Oilers.
Ken Holland, the general manager of Edmonton, offered Kyle Dubas a 6th round draft pick for a sign and trade of Hyman so that the Oilers could get the eighth year and lower the AAV on the contract.
The Leafs only had three picks that year, so any extra would have helped replenish a draft cupboard laid bare in failed attempt at a successful playoff the year prior.
Kyle Dubas turned the offer down.
The Master Class In Asset Management Continues
Frustrated fans were outraged at the loss of a favourite with no return for what they saw as a valuable asset. Edmonton doesn't play in the same conference as the Leafs, so would not be a competitor in the playoffs unless the unlikely event they met in the finals, so there was no valid reason to refuse the free pick except for what was interpreted as Kyle Dubas being obstinate.
Year after year fans have watched while the Toronto Maple Leafs have used valuable UFA's as own rentals, the heart and guts of the team being ripped out every offseason with no return on the investment, o when Kyle Dubas rejected Edmonton's offer, in what appeared to be a stoking of his own ego, fans were upset at the loss of a return on yet another valuable asset.
Rubbing salt into the wound, making a bad situation appear even worse, Edmonton used that sixth round pick to select Matvey Petrov, who currently plays for the North Bay Battalion and is second in OHL scoring with 22 goals and 52 points in 48 games played this season.
Another master class in asset management, Kyle Dubas style.
You don't know what yiur talking about. Why don't you go cheer for a different team?