If you went back to the beginning of the season and stated that Zach Hyman and Jeff Skinner would be playing on the Edmonton Oilers’ third line in the new year, you would have been laughed out of town.
After all, Hyman was coming off a great year in which he scored a team-high 54 goals while playing net-front with Connor McDavid on the top line.
And Skinner was a ferociously offensive free-agent signing in the off-season, whose proven ability to snipe corners was supposed to make everyone forget the unfortunate loss of up-and-coming Dylan Holloway to a St. Louis Blues offer sheet, instead of sticking around to play on the second line alongside Leon Draisaitl.
Of course, a team’s roster on paper during training camp is one thing, but reaching the halfway point of the regular season is quite another, as lines alter frequently and players row themselves among the ebbs and flows of obstacles, both internal and external.
Just when it appeared like Hyman could have recovered his scoring touch from a season ago, he was demoted to not one line, but two in the Oilers’ general pecking order.
He knew it wasn’t going to be easy after going 10 games without a goal to start the season. And with only three in his first twenty.
And it was all while playing on the first line alongside the world’s best player right now.
As the calendar flipped to the end of the year, Hyman had become a fixture on the Oilers’ third line, expanding on his previous streak of 10 goals in nine games. He has not scored a goal in five games entering Tuesday’s game against the Boston Bruins.
Skinner, meanwhile, has bounced about from the second line to being a healthy scratch as he tries to find his footing with his new team, totaling 14 points (seven goals, seven assists) in his first 38 games. For him, moving to the third line is a promotion.
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Then then, after the Oilers came so close to their ultimate aim of reaching Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final last season, it doesn’t matter who’s doing what as long as the job is done.
“We simply want to win. It doesn’t matter how, who contributes, or how we complete the task,” Hyman added. “We just want to get the win.”
While Connor Brown takes his position as McDavid’s right-hand man in a reunion of the two Erie Otter junior teammates — at the request of their old junior head coach, Kris Knoblauch — Hyman and Skinner are revisiting some of their own shared hockey history.
“We played together a little bit this year, and I played with him a lot growing up,” said Hyman, who was teammates with Skinner in minor hockey in the Greater Toronto Area. “So, it’s fun to reunite.
“He’s a player with a lot of skill, has scored a lot of goals in this league, and has played in over 1,000 games. So, I believe he is re-discovering his game, and it is enjoyable to play with him again.
Perhaps there is an unspoken strategy at work to get both Skinner and Hyman back on track by pushing them closer to their roots, or Knoblauch is simply stirring things up to get more production out of an on-again, off-again third line that has seen a slew of personnel come and go this season.
In any case, it’s a nostalgic experience for both participants.
“Yes, it’s insane to think about it. “Obviously, if you had told us when we were kids that we’d be playing together in the NHL, we’d be very excited,” Hyman said. “This is a dream. I believe it is every child’s desire to play in the NHL. And it’s quite great to play with someone you’ve been playing with since the beginning.
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“He was incredible growing up and was always so excellent on his edges. Still is,” Hyman stated. “Kind of the similar player, it’s funny how you don’t change too much from when you’re little.”
However, prior experience with a linemate is not required.
“No, I think you just go out there and play your game and you trust that it’s going to complement whoever you’re playing with,” Hyman told the audience. “You just kind of know what your role is being here, and you just kind of go out there and execute it and try to help the team win.”
