More like Zach Byeman, as Hyman is heading to Edmonton

As a Leafs fan based in Edmonton, I’m excited about my potential new neighbour. Maybe Zach and I can go for donairs or check out an Elks game. Who knows.

Anyway, if you haven’t guessed by now, Hyman is almost certainly Edmonton bound, and likely to spend the next few years reaping the benefits of being Connor McDavid’s LW.

So that’s looking pretty absolute and while that could play out next week, there’s also a chance that it could play out today if the Oilers are willing to make a deal with the Leafs to activate the 8 year option rather than paying the higher cap hit for the shorter term.

There is definite value in bringing down the cap hit by $375k a year, and there’s a definite benefit in not giving someone another week to rethink moving to Edmonton.

Despite Darren Dreger saying that nothing has happened in this regard just yet, it doesn’t mean it won’t be happening soon. The Oilers could use that cap hit savings and the jump on free agency. Considering that Barclay Goodrow was worth a 7th round pick just for the right to negotiate early, the return for Hyman would be higher because this would be a sign and trade requiring the Leafs to actually do something. It would also be for a better player, so while any pipe dreams of 1st or 2nd round picks shouldn’t exist, it seems reasonable to be eying the Oilers 4th round pick to make this happen. The Leafs can’t get too greedy because Edmonton can always wait it out and the Leafs getting anything at this point would probably count as a win in this situation.

We’ll likely know a lot more in two hours, but it appears the Hyman era ends today.