Despite it only being mid-July, the Edmonton Oilers are ready to tee up another run to the Stanley Cup.
On Monday, Oilers winger Zach Hyman and his teammates Connor McDavid and Connor Brown were in attendance at Oakdale Golf and Country Club for the fifth annual Zach Hyman Celebrity Classic, where all three of the forwards spoke to the media about the tournament, last season, and early preparations for taking another swing at the Stanley Cup in 2024-25 with the Blue & Orange.
The Hyman Celebrity Classic has raised over $2 million since 2018 supporting children’s charities such as the Stollery Children’s Hospital, SickKids Hospital and Colby’s Kidz, along with other causes like the UJA Federations of Toronto and Alberta. Often a mid-summer occasion for Hyman, this year’s tournament has felt more like the kick-off to a short summer after the Oilers’ official start date to their offseason was delayed by their deep run to Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final against Florida.
Following a few weeks off to decompress from the heartbreak of losing Game 7, Hyman says he’s been able to reflect on how incredible a season it was for the Oilers despite coming up one game short of accomplishing their ultimate goal of lifting the Stanley Cup, losing to the eventual champion for the third straight season.
While it might’ve been easier to shake off defeat in the previous two years by not making it to the Final, losing this past June in a one-game, winner-take-all Game 7 to decide the Stanley Cup certainly makes the pain sting a bit more – especially after the way they were able to scrape back from a 3-0 series deficit to the Panthers.
“It’s funny, we talk about that with the guys when reflecting on what happened, but it shouldn’t feel that way,” Hyman said. “When you lose in the first round, you feel bad, but it goes away quicker. I think if we would’ve got swept, we would’ve been like, ‘Oh man, we didn’t deserve to win’. It could’ve been a little bit easier.
“To go all the way and come back in the way we did, to be within a goal, you can almost taste it and it kind of gets ripped away. That’s a harder feeling at the moment. But then reflecting on it, it’s a better feeling than losing early and not having a chance, because you can go into next year with the understanding that you’re right there and you know you can do it.”
Beyond confirming their belief they can contest the Stanley Cup as one of the best teams in the NHL, the run proved to the Oilers they can find ways to rise to the occasion when the going gets tough thanks to their strong sense of team resiliency, having gone 5-1 in elimination games during the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs with their only blemish being their 2-1 loss to the Panthers in Game 7 of the Final.
“You have to be able to win games in different ways, and I think were able to do that whether it was outscoring the opponent, holding on and having our goalie steal a game, or if it was our penalty kill being unbelievable or our power play scoring,” Hyman said. “The more ways you can win, the more opportunities you have. Everything’s so tight.”
In addition to the players, it’s been a short but busy offseason for Oilers management going from the NHL Draft in Vegas only four days after Game 7 of the Final to the free-agent frenzy of July 1, where the club made 13 total signings.
Led by CEO of Hockey Operations & Alternate Governor Jeff Jackson, the Oilers have made solid progress in strengthening their roster by re-signing many of last season’s important depth pieces like Connor Brown and shoring up next year’s push by adding more elite talent in names such as Viktor Arvidsson and Jeff Skinner.
“I thought the whole management staff did a great job. They’ve had a great offseason so far,” Connor McDavid said. “It’s been short, it’s been hurried, but I think in the short time they’ve been at it, they’ve done great things. Keeping as many guys together is a good thing in the salary cap era. It’s tough to do that, and he’s done a great job.”
Connor Brown reiterated that coming as close as the Oilers did to winning the Stanley Cup only fuels their desire to get started next season, with Brown looking to build on what was a strong postseason with six points in 19 games – half his total from the regular season where he was readjusting to the NHL pace following off-season knee surgery.
With some solid additions to the lineup and a high number of players from last year’s playoff run returning, there’s a lot for the Oilers to look forward to when they return for Oilers Main Camp in mid-to-late September at Rogers Place in Edmonton.
“I think you kind of get fueled by a situation like that,” Brown said. “You’re so close. We feel like we’ve got a lot of the same guys coming back and we learned a lot from that run, too, so a lot of lessons to carry through and carry forward. I think we’re all very motivated to have a good summer and get back after it.”
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