Oilers Zach Hyman tears the Maple Leafs apart over winning culture
Photo credit: The Hockey News
Former Maple Leafs player Zach Hyman fired a shot at the Leafs over how they manage their money, saying they don't have the same winning culture as the Oilers.
Reporters caught up with Zach Hyman during the fifth annual Hyman Family Foundation golf charity tournament in California, and asked him a series of questions. Hyman believes that Oilers interim GM Jeff Jackson has been doing an incredible job so far this off-season at how he's going about handling player contracts in order to have a win-first mentality.
"It's a testament to the team that guys are willing to come back on team-friendly deals & take discounts to try & win," said Hyman of having a number of players return on team-friendly deals. "I think they see how special it is to play in Edmonton & it's now becoming more of a destination to play & that's really awesome to see."
Fans felt the comments Hyman made were shots fired at the Leafs for not doing things the way the Oilers have been doing. Hyman likely feels the Leafs didn't have a win-first mentality due to how poorly they managed their money. One needs to look no further than how former Leafs GM Kyle Dubas recently came out and announced his biggest regret was signing John Tavares to such a high yearly salary.
On this day in 2018, the Leafs signed John Tavares to a seven-year, $77 million contract #Leafs365 #LeafsForever
It isn't just role players taking less money to play for the Oilers, as we've seen Leon Draisaitl sign a contract paying him $8.5 million annually that left most experts calling it a steal. Connor McDavid also left two or three million on the table when he signed for $12.5 million annually. Perhaps that's why the Oilers managed to get to game 7 of the finals this past season, and why the Leafs have only been able to win one playoff round in nine years.
Credit Maple Leafs Daily:
Oilers forward Zach Hyman takes shot at Maple Leafs culture
Oilers forward Zach Hyman takes shot at Maple Leafs culture
| POLL | ||
16 JUILLET | 109 ANSWERS Oilers Zach Hyman tears the Maple Leafs apart over winning culture Do the Oilers know how to manage money better than the Leafs? | ||
| Yes | 80 | 73.4 % |
| No | 29 | 26.6 % |
| List of polls | ||
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