Toronto Maple Leafs Are Losing Zach Hyman and That’s Fine

Exhibit B: Age

This June Hyman turned 29, which is an age where a lot of hockey players are reaching or have reached their peak and begin to leave their prime. And for players of Hyman’s ilk (which is to say, the limited skill, big heart, grinding and hustle types), slowing down just even just half a step can be detrimental to their success.

The body can also start to wear down from the years of grit and physical play (insert big-four longevity joke here) and the injuries won’t be able to heal or regenerate as fast. Let’s call this the ‘Clarkson Effect’. Here are some recent examples, starting with, you guessed it:

David Clarkson:

After breaking out at age 27 with a 30-goal season in New Jersey, Clarkson followed-up with a decent 15 goals in 48 games before signing a lucrative seven-year deal in free agency with…*heavy sigh…..Toronto. Clarkson, at the tender age of 29, scored just 5 goals in 60 games for the Buds that first year and managed only 12 goals total over the next two seasons (84 games), culminating in an exit from the NHL at age 31.

Darcy Tucker:

Tucker (unlike Clarkson) was a pretty consistent 20-goal scorer but also had a nice balance of grit, sandpaper and flat-out craziness to his game. His age 29 season was wiped out from the lockout but he did score a career-high 28 goals at age 30 and managed to pot 24 the following season, before dwindling down to 18, 8 and 10, respectively, the next three years. He looked tired at 32 years old, appeared done at 33 and was out of the league by the time he was 34.

Leo Komarov:

Hyman and Komarov, to me, were pretty similar players early on in their careers in Toronto but the latter just didn’t have the opportunity to play with the level of talent that the former played with. Nevertheless, Komarov, at 29, scored 19 goals in 67 games and then managed 14 goals in 82 games the year after that. In the four years since, Komarov’s highest output in a season has been 7 goals and he’s fresh off of a 1 goal in 33 game campaign in Long Island.

Wayne Simmonds:

From ages 25-28 Simmonds scored consistently around the 30-goal mark before dropping to 24 goals in 75 games at age 29. He only managed 17 goals in 79 games the next season, followed by an 8 and a 7-goal campaign. At least he’s cheap.

Milan Lucic:

This one is fitting, as this was another seven-year free agent acquisition by Edmonton. Lucic was only 28 when he signed in Edmonton and had a solid season (23 goals, 50 points) in his inaugural year with the Oilers. Then he turned 29 and things started to immediately Clarkson Effect. 10, 6, 8 and 10 would be Milan’s goal totals in each of the next four seasons.

But who cares about his age; wouldn’t it be worth it if the Oilers win a Cup or two along the way?

Yes, the last half of that sentence is a quote from the Edmonton Journal about Hyman’s potential contribution to the Oilers. Okay. I mean, sure, he possesses some of the qualities that people like to value in terms of post-season hockey but am I missing something here about Zach Hyman? When (and this is in response to the dissatisfied Leaf faithful crowd too) did Hyman become Claude Lemieux incarnate?