CALGARY — Zach Hyman‘s surgically repaired right wrist is almost healed, but the Edmonton Oilers forward is not certain he will be ready for the start of the regular season.

The Oilers will open their season against the Calgary Flames at home on Oct. 8.

“Have one more meeting with the surgeon to wrap it up, which is great,” Hyman told NHL.com at Hockey Canada’s 2025 National Teams Orientation Camp on Thursday. “Will I be ready for the start of the season? I don’t know. But I’m on the right track, which is good. The fact that I don’t know is a good thing because it could be, ‘No, I’m not.’”

Hyman had surgery on May 28 after sustaining the injury in a collision with then-Dallas Stars forward Mason Marchment the night before during the first period of Edmonton’s 4-1 win in Game 4 of the Western Conference Final.

He did not play again for the remainder of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, missing the Oilers’ run to their second straight Stanley Cup Final, where they again lost to the Florida Panthers.

“It was miserable,” Hyman said of watching the rest of the playoffs. “It’s very horrible, very hard. No matter what you’re stressed whether you’re up or down. You have no control. You’re helpless. At the same time you’re trying to keep it all together and be supportive for the guys who are playing. So when I wasn’t around them I was a stress case, and when I was I just tried to be an emotional support system, anchor for those guys.”

Hyman still wears a brace to protect his right wrist, but he has been skating and training to prepare for the season.

“I [hurt] my knee in 2019 and the knee is different because you can’t skate,” Hyman said. “I’m skating. This is my top hand. I’m doing all the things I normally do but I’m being cautious with my bottom hand.”

Hyman had 11 points (five goals, six assists) in 15 games for the Oilers in the playoffs before his injury. He still finished first in the playoffs with 111 hits, 15 short of the single-postseason record of 126, set by Blake Coleman with the Tampa Bay Lightning in 2020.

But last season as a whole was challenging for Hyman, who had 44 points (27 goals, 17 assists) in 73 regular-season games after setting an NHL career high with 54 goals in 80 games in 2023-24.

He was on Canada’s radar for the 4 Nations Face-Off in February, but his slow start burned his chances.

“I think everything that could have gone wrong for me went wrong in the first half,” Hyman said. “It’s funny, you go from a dream year where I wasn’t hurt at all, scored as many goals I scored, felt great, healthy, to the first half of the year. I started off slow statistically, had a concussion, [a] bunch of other little bumps and bruises, shattered my nose, and then obviously wasn’t selected for the team.”

But Hyman remains on Canada’s radar for the Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026. He was one of 26 forwards invited to the orientation camp this week despite still recovering from his injury and not having an exact timeline for when he will be able to play.

“I remember watching (the 4 Nations) with our teammates cheering Connor (McDavid) on, and you want to be there, you want to be in those moments, you want to be on the greatest stage,” Hyman said. “It’s the competitiveness in you. I’d say watching was more motivation than not making the team because it’s more real. It was disappointing, obviously, and I’ll do everything I can to make this one.”