Mon 6 Jul 2026 - 5:00PM

LOWDOWN ON AIDEN HANSEN-BUKATA

By Jono Bullard

Our latest signing is 27-year-old Canadian defenceman Aiden Hansen-Bukata who joins the club from Utah Grizzlies in the ECHL, where he played 64 games in the 2025/26 season, scoring 6 goals and 40 assists for 46 points in total.

He also played four games in the AHL in March this year on a Professional Tryout Agreement with Colorado Eagles before returning to the Grizzlies.

Born in Vancouver, British Columbia, Hansen-Bukata spent his junior career in and around his home state. In 2014/15 and 2016/17 he was part of the Delta Hockey Academy, playing in their under-16 and under-18 teams.

He dissected his time at Delta with a season with the Pacific Coast Academy in Victoria, BC for the 2015/16 campaign, playing 38 games and scoring 13 points.

After four games with Surrey Eagles in the British Columbia Hockey League (BCHL) at the end of the 2016/17 season, Hansen-Bukata moved to Delta Ice Hawks of the Pacific Junior Hockey League (PJHL) for the 2017/18 campaign.

It was a very successful season as the Hawks took the PJHL Championship with a 4-2 series victory over Ridge Meadows Flames. Hansen-Bukata played 55 games and scored 35 points.

For the following two seasons, Hansen-Bukata returned to the BCHL with Nanaimo Clippers. He played 111 games, scoring nine goals and 57 assists for 66 points.

During his first season in Nanaimo, Hansen-Bukata committed to play for Rochester Institute of Technology Tigers (RIT) in the NCAA from the 2020/21 season. He joined Tigers as a freshman in 2020, but was limited to 20 games due to the covid pandemic.

He played a further three seasons with RIT from 2021/22 to 2023/24, winning the NCAA AHA Championship in his final season after a 5-2 victory over American International College in the championship final. Hansen-Bukata assisted on Matthew Wilde’s game-winning third goal at 1:48 of the second period in the final.

Hansen-Bukata moved to Ohio State University for his NCAA graduate season in 2024/25, wearing an ‘A’ on his sweater. Playing 38 games for the Buckeyes, he scored two goals and a team-leading 29 assists for 31 points in total.

This earned him an Amateur Tryout Contract with Syracuse Crunch of the AHL, playing one game for them against Utica Comets on 19th April 2025. He then moved on to Utah in the ECHL for the 2025/26 season.

Hansen-Bukata is also a keen baseball player during the summer months and won three British Columbia Provincial Junior Men’s Championships as a catcher with the Tsawwassen Brewers.

You can catch Aiden at the Motorpoint Arena from August!