Confirmed with Link: Leafs re-sign Hyman to a 4 year @ $9 mil ($2.25 AAV) contract.

[hotpaws]

He was just a rookie last year.. I think we will see a improvement in finishing ability this season like he did in NCAA improve with time to be a Hobey Baker finalist.

However that said I expect he will eventually move down the depth chart/lines and with less quality of linemates it will also impact his output.

it took him until his senior year to improve his finishing ability at Michigan and that probably had just as much to do with him being older than most of the players he played against as it did improving his "finishing ability"

 

[Mess]

it took him until his senior year to improve his finishing ability at Michigan and that probably had just as much to do with him being older than most of the players he played against as it did improving his "finishing ability"

He will never be a big scorer, but then again he will be used in a more defensive role as a checker and PKer in time.

He lead the NHL in SH/TOI/g among all forwards last year and that will likely continue as the coach uses him to on the PK.

A good PK can really contribute to wins for a team, so good Pkers are not measured by individual points but in PK% rate.

 

[X66]

Just shoot higher than 4.5% at even strength, because that is downright embarrassing when you consider the quality and AMOUNT of chances he gets.

 

[Menzinger]

While technically a rookie, he's also at an age where many forwards are in the middle of their primes. So I'm not confident we'll see a lot of improvement here. He likely is what he is.

Useful role player, limited offensive skills. Better suited further down the lineup at 5v5 than last season but lots of PK time.

 

[hotpaws]

He will never be a big scorer, but then again he will be used in a more defensive role as a checker and PKer in time.

He lead the NHL in SH/TOI/g among all forwards last year and that will likely continue as the coach uses him to on the PK.

A good PK can really contribute to wins for a team, so good Pkers are not measured by individual points but in PK% rate.

Babcock played him a lot on the PK but he wasn't that effective and our pk was mediocre to poor the last 1/3 of the season and in the playoffs .

I respect any player that works as hard as he does but his usage and the praise he gets from Babcock is absurd . He's getting set up for a lot of abuse if Babs continues to use him in this way especially since we have plethora of top 9 wingers , unless of course he goes on a lucky streak like Clarkson did .

 

[BoredBrandonPridham]

Babcock played him a lot on the PK but he wasn't that effective and our pk was mediocre to poor the last 1/3 of the season and in the playoffs .

I respect any player that works as hard as he does but his usage and the praise he gets from Babcock is absurd . He's getting set up for a lot of abuse if Babs continues to use him in this way especially since we have plethora of top 9 wingers , unless of course he goes on a lucky streak like Clarkson did .

Pretty sure we just saw Hymans floor of production with regards to luck. Nowhere to go but up for sh%.

Once you account for him not having any PP time, and the fact that he'll probably have higher sh% in subsequent seasons, and that his rookie season had him comparable to players like Kunitz and Hornqvist, he takes quite a bit more abuse than he deserves.

If Hyman did nothing more but be given 2nd PP unit minutes, I think he'd get less than half the abuse on here that he does.

 

[BoredBrandonPridham]

Just shoot higher than 4.5% at even strength, because that is downright embarrassing when you consider the quality and AMOUNT of chances he gets.

It's not as embarrassing as implying volume of scoring chances should result in higher sh%.

 

[Leafidelity]

While technically a rookie, he's also at an age where many forwards are in the middle of their primes. So I'm not confident we'll see a lot of improvement here. He likely is what he is.

Can't say I agree at all here. Plenty of players start their careers later and generally get better after a rookie season. Is Zaitsev done developing too? Lets not forget the improvements we saw with Komarov in year three that saw him score 19.

Not to mention he has next to no mileage on his body for his age. If he's as hard a worker as Babcock raves about, I'm sure we'll see some improvements to his game in October.

 

[X66]

It's not as embarrassing as implying volume of scoring chances should result in higher sh%.

Who suggested that?

The point is, you shouldn't be shooting at 4.5% rate and only have 6 goals when you have some of the most high quality scoring chances in the nhl.

(even strength)

 

[BoredBrandonPridham]

Who suggested that?

The point is, you shouldn't be shooting at 4.5% rate and only have 6 goals when you have some of the most high quality scoring chances in the nhl.

(even strength)

You suggested it with "amount of chances." I don't think you typed what you meant.

Any way, players can have lucky seasons and unlucky seasons. If Leafs let him walk and he got that contract somewhere else, I think we'd be worse off.

 

[Leafidelity]

If Leafs let him walk and he got that contract somewhere else, I think we'd be worse off.

Reading through the Panthers board through the season, they seemed to lament losing Hyman more than Crouse.

 

[hotpaws]

Pretty sure we just saw Hymans floor of production with regards to luck. Nowhere to go but up for sh%.

Once you account for him not having any PP time, and the fact that he'll probably have higher sh% in subsequent seasons, and that his rookie season had him comparable to players like Kunitz and Hornqvist, he takes quite a bit more abuse than he deserves.

If Hyman did nothing more but be given 2nd PP unit minutes, I think he'd get less than half the abuse on here that he does.

the abuse he gets is deserved due to Babcock playing him in an offensive role combined with his severe lack of talent , he literally cannot skate and lift his head to see where he's passing

with most any other coach he'd be a 4th liner at best , get 10 mins a night and this would have been the high point of his production

 

[BertCorbeau]

the abuse he gets is deserved due to Babcock playing him in an offensive role combined with his severe lack of talent , he literally cannot skate and lift his head to see where he's passing

with most any other coach he'd be a 4th liner at best , get 10 mins a night and this would have been the high point of his production

Yep. And if this was the case he'd be a fan favourite.

Love his work ethic but he has very little skill.

 

[showtime8]

Yep. And if this was the case he'd be a fan favourite.

Love his work ethic but he has very little skill.

Tough spot for him to be in though.

Babcock is rewarding him the ice-time for his hard work. It's not like he can say to Babcock, "nah, I'm good with getting less icetime. Hook me up with 10 min a night and I don't really want to play with Matthews or Nylander..." lol

You absolutely need guys like this on your team.

 

[Menzinger]

Can't say I agree at all here. Plenty of players start their careers later and generally get better after a rookie season. Is Zaitsev done developing too? Lets not forget the improvements we saw with Komarov in year three that saw him score 19.

Not to mention he has next to no mileage on his body for his age. If he's as hard a worker as Babcock raves about, I'm sure we'll see some improvements to his game in October.

Yeah, I think Zaitsev is about as good as he's going to get. And same applies to Hyman. Leo had one good offensive year, and then came back down to earth - he's pretty much been the same level of player since coming to the NHL.

An athletes body is in their physical peak in that 22-26ish age range. There obviously some exceptions, but those seem to be more outliers. Can't say I agree that there's been zero mileage on his body - he's been an athletes his entire adult life.

Maybe he improves a bit after getting accustomed to the NHL next season, but I do think what we see is what we get with him.

 

[Menzinger]

Pretty sure we just saw Hymans floor of production with regards to luck. Nowhere to go but up for sh%.

Once you account for him not having any PP time, and the fact that he'll probably have higher sh% in subsequent seasons, and that his rookie season had him comparable to players like Kunitz and Hornqvist, he takes quite a bit more abuse than he deserves.

If Hyman did nothing more but be given 2nd PP unit minutes, I think he'd get less than half the abuse on here that he does.

But he's never going to get more PP time.

Because 1) Whose he taking off the PP? And 2) that means he gets less Pk time and Babcock won't do that.

I'm no so confident he has he ability to raise his sh%.

 

[BoredBrandonPridham]

But he's never going to get more PP time.

Because 1) Whose he taking off the PP? And 2) that means he gets less Pk time and Babcock won't do that.

I'm no so confident he has he ability to raise his sh%.

You missed the point. If he had more points to make him closer to other player point totals that get PP time then most people would consider him offensive.

Lots of championship teams put a grinder up on the first line, it just baffles me that most people don't understand the role and thinks he's being "put in an offensive role". Not every slot on the first line has to score goals, he participates in his fair share of offense on the first line in one way or another. Definitely deserves his contract for the responsibility he has AINEC

 

[Joey Hoser]

You missed the point. If he had more points to make him closer to other player point totals that get PP time then most people would consider him offensive.

Lots of championship teams put a grinder up on the first line, it just baffles me that most people don't understand the role and thinks he's being "put in an offensive role". Not every slot on the first line has to score goals, he participates in his fair share of offense on the first line in one way or another. Definitely deserves his contract for the responsibility he has AINEC

This year he went like 30 games without a goal or a point or something, on the top line, with an elite center. You can't forecheck enough to make up for that.

I understand that role, but you can't do that.

 

[Mess]

Babcock played him a lot on the PK but he wasn't that effective and our pk was mediocre to poor the last 1/3 of the season and in the playoffs .

I respect any player that works as hard as he does but his usage and the praise he gets from Babcock is absurd . He's getting set up for a lot of abuse if Babs continues to use him in this way especially since we have plethora of top 9 wingers , unless of course he goes on a lucky streak like Clarkson did.

I've said it before and I'll say it again.. There is method to Leafs madness with Hyman's usage.

While the Hyman -- Matthews -- Nylander trio is still productive at 5v5, Hyman's own personal production puts a strain on the full potential of the line, if he would be replaced with a player that scores more goals and sets up more plays then that has consequences.

The more points Matthews and Nylander score the more their new contracts coming out of ELC will cost the Leafs in terms of Cap/Salary. Putting a drag on potential output, puts a drag on asking price in terms of comparables when Leafs management negotiates next deals.

ie. if Matthews (with Hyman pinned to his hip) produces at 80% of McDavid offensively, then Auston next contract could be 80% of Connor new deal as a comparable. If Leafs could save save +1 mil a year cap X 8 years on both Matthews and Nylander that would be huge in terms of team competitiveness and cap management strategies.

Once resigned Babcock can turn his ponies lose and let them run, and Hyman will take his useful place further down the roster as a checker and Pker full time.

 

[ToneDog]

I've said it before and I'll say it again.. There is method to Leafs madness with Hyman's usage.

While the Hyman -- Matthews -- Nylander trio is still productive at 5v5, Hyman's own personal production puts a strain on the full potential of the line, if he would be replace with a player that scores more goals and sets up more plays.

The more points Matthews and Nylander score the more their new contracts coming out of ELC will cost the Leafs in terms of Cap/Salary. Putting a drag on potential output, puts a drag on asking price in terms of comparables when Leafs management negotiates next deals.

ie. if Matthews (with Hyman pinned to his hip) produces at 80% of McDavid offensively, then Auston next contract could be 80% of Connor new deal as a comparable. If Leafs could save save +1 mil a year cap X 8 years on both Matthews and Nylander that would be huge in terms of team competitiveness and cap management strategies.

Once resigned Babcock can turn his ponies lose and let them run, and Hyman will take his useful place further down the roster as a checker and Pker full time.

Conspiracy theory ? I find that very hard to believe.

 

[PromisedLand]

I wonder how many wrap around attempts Hyman is going to make this upcoming season while both Matthews and Willy are open

 

[BigBlu]

Kid is lucky he was a couple years older than the rest of our burgeoning rookie-crop and made it to the show first. If he was a couple years younger, he would have been drowned out by our better prospects, and no way in heck would he have been gifted such a disproportionate contract. His biggest credential appears to be that he really tries hard.

 

[Menzinger]

You missed the point. If he had more points to make him closer to other player point totals that get PP time then most people would consider him offensive.

Lots of championship teams put a grinder up on the first line, it just baffles me that most people don't understand the role and thinks he's being "put in an offensive role". Not every slot on the first line has to score goals, he participates in his fair share of offense on the first line in one way or another. Definitely deserves his contract for the responsibility he has AINEC

I think folks understand the role that he plays, they just think ideally the Leafs will get somebody to do that AND not have stone hands. Being an aggressive forechecker is a reasonably common trait to replace.

 

[ToneDog]

It is amazing how much hate there is on this board for Hyman who's only sin seems to be Babs playing him with Matthews. Yup his work effort puts him in Babs' good book and it is refreshing to see after watching so many floaters disguising themselves as Leafs over the years.

 

[BoredBrandonPridham]

I think folks understand the role that he plays, they just think ideally the Leafs will get somebody to do that AND not have stone hands. Being an aggressive forechecker is a reasonably common trait to replace.

Yea but we'd be better off spreading that offensive threat to another line. Teams already need to stack their best defence against Hyman-Matthews-Nylander. Spread the skill to roll 3 offensive threats and a 4th line that can score.