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Thursday, August 6th

Bison Sign NHL Draft Picks Raivis Ansons and Evgeniy Oksentyuk

Bison Sign NHL Draft Picks Raivis Ansons and Evgeniy Oksentyuk

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. – Bloomington Bison Head Coach and VP of Hockey Operations Phillip Barski announced today that the team has signed forwards Raivis Ansons and Evgeniy Oksentyuk to standard player contracts for the 2026-27 season.

Ansons, 24, played for the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins and the Wheeling Nailers last season, and has recorded 20 points (7g-13a) in 119 career American Hockey League games, and 10 points (5g-5a) in 19 ECHL games.

The 6-foot-1, 192-pound Riga, Latvia native was selected by the Pittsburgh Penguins in the Fifth Round of the 2020 NHL Draft and won the 2022 Memorial Cup as a member of the Saint John Sea Dogs. He skated in 125 Major-Junior games and amassed 101 points (33g-68a).

In international play, Ansons led the 2021-22 U20 World Junior Championship D1A bracket in goals en route to winning a Silver Medal with Latvia. The year prior, he also won a D1A Silver Medal and earned a Latvia U18 Championship in the 2016-17 season.

Oksentyuk, 25, won the 2025-26 Belarus Cup with Yunost Minsk and has amassed 32 points (13g-19a) in 104 career games in the top Belarussian league where he was named Best Young Player in 2019. He was also a member of the 2020-21 Belarus Champion Yunost Minsk team and has recorded 13 points (8g-5a) in 31 postseason games.

The Brest, Belarus native was selected by the Dallas Stars in the Sixth Round of the 2020 NHL Draft after scoring 78 points (33g-45a) in 58 games with the Ontario Hockey League’s Flint Firebirds in the 2019-20 season.

Oksentyuk skated in eight games with the AHL’s Texas Stars during the 2021-22 season and registered four points (2g-2a). That same season, the 5-foot-8, 163-pound winger spent 40 games with the Idaho Steelheads and tallied 34 points (19g-15a).

In Europe, Oksentyuk skated in 16 KHL games, 22 VHL games and 38 Pro Hokei Ligasy games in Kazakhstan. He scored 17 goals and recorded 37 points in the regular season and helped Arlan Kokshetau capture the Kazakhstan Cup with 14 points (6g-8) in 14 playoff games.

Internationally, he won a Bronze and Silver Medal at the 2018-19 and 2019-20 World Junior Championships, respectively, and had the most assists in the D1A bracket during the latter tournament.

2026-27 Full Season Memberships are available for as low as $87 per month on an interest free payment plan!! Special benefits include a Meet-the-Team event, Herd Store discount, invitation to exclusive events, ticket exchange program, exclusive FanSaves deals, and a personal Ticket Account Executive. Visit bloomingtonbisonhockey.com or call (309) 965-HERD for more information.