Photo Courtesy of the Bloomington Bison

The Bloomington Bison have their first blueliner in the fold for the 2025-26 season.

Head coach Phillip Barski announced that the team has signed defenseman Riku Ishida to an ECHL standard player contract.

The 25-year-old right-shot blueliner tallied 31 points (5-26-31) in 36 games last season in the Alps Hockey League. He led his team in assists and led the club’s defensemen in points.

Ishida also competed in two games in the Italian Hockey League, posting three assists.

The Hokkaido, Japan native has competed internationally for the Japan Men’s Ice Hockey National Team. Last season, he was a member of the captaincy group.

The 5-foot-10, 198-pound defenseman has medaled two times at the Division 1 (B) World Championships in 2021-22 (Silver) and 2022-23 (Gold).

In addition, Ishida collected the Silver Medal at the Asia Championships last season.