Kristen Shilton is a national NHL reporter for ESPN.
EDMONTON, Alberta — Edmonton Oilers forward Zach Hyman is unlikely to play again in the Stanley Cup playoffs after suffering an injury in Game 4 of the Western Conference finals against the Stars on Tuesday.
Hyman was hurt midway through the first period in a collision with Stars forward Mason Marchment. The winger was clipped at the blue line and immediately left the ice while favoring his right arm/wrist. He did not return.
Coach Kris Knoblauch confirmed Wednesday the latest on Hyman’s status.
“Zach’s season is most likely done,” Knoblauch said. “He’s having surgery today. We’re not expecting him back.”
Knoblauch declined to specify the exact injury Hyman suffered. But losing Hyman will leave a significant hole in the Oilers’ lineup at a crucial juncture of their season. Edmonton has a 3-1 series lead over Dallas in their best-of-seven series following Tuesday’s 4-1 victory. The Oilers have a chance to advance to their second straight Stanley Cup Final with a win in Game 5 at Dallas on Thursday.
That becomes a taller task though without having Hyman available. He leads the NHL playoff field in hits with 111 in 15 games while adding five goals and 11 points on the scoresheet. Not only does Hyman skate on the Oilers’ top line with Connor McDavid, but he’s also a fixture on their power play and an important penalty killer.
Edmonton will have to take a by-committee approach to filling in the gaps.
“He’s put everything out there,” Knoblauch said of Hyman. “What he’s done the last two years in the playoffs, he’s scored numerous important goals in the playoffs, and this year [it’s not just] scoring key goals, but the physical department, how many hits he had. His two-way play was tremendous. And you know now that we’re going to be missing him, we’re going to need other guys step up.”
The Oilers have already tapped into their depth during this series. Connor Brown was out for Game 4 after he took a high hit from Stars defenseman Alexander Petrovic in Game 3. Knoblauch said Brown won’t play in Game 5 either, although he was “doing well” and there is hope he can return sooner than later. Viktor Arvidsson reentered the lineup for Brown after sitting out since Game 3 of Edmonton’s second-round series against Vegas.
Knoblauch felt Arvidsson — who played 11:54 and registered two hits — was able to perform despite the long layoff.
“He hadn’t played for a couple weeks and to come into an environment like that against a good team at this point of the season [was good],” Knoblauch said. “And then he just continued to get better. In the third period, he might have been one of our best forwards. He won a lot of puck races. Made some nice plays. His game was kind of what we expected. He played the way we want to play, and we’ll need more of that from Viktor, because with missing guys, especially on the right side with Hyman [out], it’s an opportunity for him to step up and play a more significant role.”
The main message is for everyone dressed for Edmonton to expect Dallas’ best game Thursday. The Stars have been outscored 16-8 in the series and have just three goals at even strength. Even though Dallas has pressured Edmonton with impressive force they’ve been stymied by a terrific Stuart Skinner in net (who has a .939 SV% and 1.76 GAA in the series) and an opportunistic Oilers team that has made Dallas pay at 5-on-5 and special teams.
The Stars have their backs against the wall now, but Knoblauch insists his club won’t take anything for granted as they look to take a second consecutive conference title.
“I think our confidence with our guys just being mature in their experience, they don’t be too high or too low,” Knoblauch said. “It’s not that they would ever think that we got this under wraps. That is definitely never the case with this team. They know how hard it is to win that last deciding game, and they also have a lot of respect for the Dallas Stars, knowing that they’re a good team. I think we’re just even-keeled.”
Why he could win: Acuna has been crushing it since he returned to the lineup May 23 after knee surgery. Indeed, his numbers are even better than during his MVP season in 2023. It should help that he’ll be hitting in front of his home fans in Atlanta: Todd Frazier in Cincinnati in 2015 and Bryce Harper with the Nationals in 2018 rode the loud support to Derby titles. Acuna’s raw power should also translate well to the Derby: Among players with at least 500 at-bats since 2023, he has the longest average home run distance in the majors.
Why he might not: Will he run into Pete Alonso again? Acuna competed in the 2019 and 2022 contests, losing both times to Alonso by a single home run (in the semifinals in 2019 and in the first round in 2022). The home-field advantage can also perhaps be a detriment if a player gets too hyped up in the first round. See Julio Rodriguez in Seattle in 2023, when he had a monster first with 41 home runs but then tired out in the second round.
2025 home runs: 35 | Longest: 440 feet
Why he could win: It’s the season of Cal! The Mariners’ catcher is having one of the greatest slugging first halves in MLB history, with 32 home runs, as he’s been crushing mistakes all season . His easy raw power might be tailor-made for the Derby — he ranks in the 87th percentile in average exit velocity and delivers the ball, on average, at the optimal home run launch angle of 23 degrees. His calm demeanor might also be perfect for the contest as he won’t get too amped up.
Why he might not: He’s a catcher — and one who has carried a heavy workload, playing in all but one game this season. This contest is as much about stamina as anything, and whether Raleigh can carry his power through three rounds would be a concern. No catcher has ever won the Derby, with only Ivan Rodriguez back in 2005 even reaching the finals.
2025 home runs: 23 | Longest: 451 feet
Why he could win: He’s big, he’s strong, he’s young, he’s awesome, he might or might not be able to leap tall buildings in a single bound. This is the perfect opportunity for Wood to show his talent on the national stage, and he wouldn’t be the first young player to star in the Derby. He ranks in the 97th percentile in average exit velocity and 99th percentile in hard-hit rate, so he can still muscle the ball out in BP even if he slightly mishits it. His long arms might be viewed as a detriment, but remember the similarly tall Aaron Judge won in 2017.
Why he might not: His natural swing isn’t a pure uppercut — he has a pretty low average launch angle of just 6.2 degrees — so we’ll see how that plays in a rapid-fire session. In real games, his power is primarily to the opposite field, but in a Home Run Derby you can get more cheapies pulling the ball down the line.
2025 home runs: 20 | Longest: 479 feet
Why he can win: Buxton’s raw power remains as impressive as nearly any hitter in the game. He crushed a 479-foot home run earlier this season and has four others of at least 425 feet. Indeed, his “no doubter” percentage — home runs that would be out of all 30 parks based on distance — is 75%, the highest in the majors among players with more than a dozen home runs. His bat speed ranks in the 89th percentile. In other words, two tools that could translate to a BP lightning show.
Why he won’t: Buxton is 31 and the Home Run Derby feels a little more like a younger man’s competition. Teoscar Hernandez did win last year at age 31, but before that, the last winner older than 29 was David Ortiz in 2010, and that was under much different rules than are used now.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Pittsburgh Pirates are back on the board after Tommy Pham‘s two-run home run in the third inning at Kansas City on Monday night ended a 30-inning scoreless streak.
The Pirates had been shut out in all three games at Seattle during their previous series.
However, they tallied another loss against the Royals, losing 9-3.
The scoreless streak included Sunday’s 1-0 loss to the Mariners in which Pittsburgh ace Paul Skenes threw 10 strikeouts in five scoreless innings before the Pirates gave up a run in the bottom of the sixth.
Before beginning this nine-game trip with the sweep by the Mariners, the Pirates had blanked the St. Louis Cardinals in three consecutive home games. Their streak of playing in six straight shutouts matched the longest in major league history.
Pham, a 12-year veteran who is in his first season with the Pirates, bookended the scoreless skid with RBIs. He drove in a seventh-inning run with a groundout Wednesday during the 5-0 victory over the Cardinals.
MILWAUKEE — Andrew Vaughn is back in the majors with the Milwaukee Brewers and making quite an early impression with his new team.
The Brewers called up the former Chicago White Sox slugger from the minors on Monday after a sprained left thumb landed first baseman Rhys Hoskins on the injured list. In his Brewers debut, Vaughn smashed a three-run homer off All-Star right-hander Yoshinobu Yamamoto in the first inning of Milwaukee’s 9-1 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Vaughn acknowledged his homer felt particularly good given the circumstances.
“You definitely black out running around the bases,” he said. “It’s special. It put us ahead against a really good pitcher and really good team.”
Vaughn became the fifth player in franchise history to homer in his first plate appearance with the club. He was the first Brewers hitter to accomplish the feat since Gabe Gross in 2006.
And it’s just the start Vaughn could use as he seeks to rejuvenate his career.
The 27-year-old Vaughn hit 72 homers for the White Sox from 2021-24, but he had tailed off lately. He posted a .699 OPS last year that was a career low at the time. He followed that up by batting .189 with a .218 on-base percentage, five homers and 19 RBI in 48 games for Chicago before getting sent to the minors on May 23.
After acquiring Vaughn in a June 13 trade that sent pitcher Aaron Civale to the White Sox, the Brewers kept him in the minors. A spot on the big league roster opened up when Hoskins got hurt last weekend.
Vaughn gives the Brewers a right-handed option to pair with left-handed hitter Jake Bauers at first base while Hoskins is out. Bauers, 29, is batting .214 with a .331 on-base percentage, five homers and 18 RBI in 54 games this season.
Brewers manager Pat Murphy said Hoskins’ stay on the injured list “can be weeks, not days,” potentially giving Vaughn an extended audition. Hoskins, 32, has hit .242 with a .340 on-base percentage, 12 homers and 42 RBI in 82 games.
Vaughn had been hitting .259 with a .338 on-base percentage, three homers and 16 RBI in 16 games with the Brewers’ Triple-A Nashville affiliate.
That represented a major step forward after his struggles with the White Sox.
“I feel like my swing consistency’s been a lot better – swing decisions, just working in the cage and getting it right,” Vaughn said before Monday’s game. “There were some keys I worked on, just simple things. Don’t want to do a whole revamp of the swing because it’s probably impossible during the season, most hitters would say. Just small keys and getting it right.”
Vaughn wasted no time endearing himself to his new teammates. He started a 3-6-3 double play to end the top of the first inning before delivering his 409-foot shot over the wall in left-center field in the bottom half.
“To have him show up first day, not know anybody at noon, and then he’s in there and then kind of get a huge hit in the first inning to kind of open things up was a great way to say, ‘Here I am,'” Murphy said.
Vaughn is eager to keep making those kind of statements.
“That’s pretty cool, just to be a part of something bigger than myself, being part of the Brewers,” Vaughn said. “Just trying to do anything I can to help this team win.”
In other Brewers news, shortstop Joey Ortiz was held out of the starting lineup for a second straight game after going 0 for 3 with two strikeouts Saturday in a 4-2 loss at Miami. Ortiz is hitting .209 with a .269 on-base percentage, six homers and 28 RBI in 87 games this season, though he showed progress by posting a .748 OPS in June.
Murphy said Ortiz has been swinging better lately, but must make better swing decisions.
“I want him to give me his best approach at the plate,” Murphy said before Monday’s game. “We’ve given him a lot. We’re playing him every day, and we need him, and he can’t just have lapses at the plate like that. He’s got to fight through that.”