An 'A' list player: Rivermen sign veteran defenseman, designate him an assistant captain

PEORIA — Zach Wilkie is on the "A" list with the Peoria Rivermen again.

The defending SPHL champions brought back the veteran and former SPHL Defenseman of the Year on Wednesday and named him assistant captain, as their priority to build their leadership group for the 2024-25 season continued.

"We are so excited to have the best defenseman in the league back with us," Rivermen coach Jean-Guy Trudel said. "He brings the energy and effort needed every day that allows us to be successful. He is absolutely phenomenal on and off the ice for the Peoria Rivermen and he is becoming the face of the culture we built here.

"I can't say enough about the kid. We are lucky to have him."

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Wilkie is a colorful character who plays with a high level of emotion. He shows joy in playing the game, even in his traditional exit from the ice after pre-game warmups, when he charges through the bench and down the tunnel full-speed to the locker room.

Wilkie told his teammates during the 2021-22 SPHL President's Cup Finals at Roanoke, as they sat in the locker room after the third period, waiting for overtime: "Boys, when we come back in here, we're going to be champions."

And they were. Peoria won it in overtime to bring home the franchise's first championship in 22 years.

A history of success

Wilkie is physical, skilled and has been among the league's elite defenders since he came in as a rookie in 2021-22.

The 6-foot, 200-pound 27-year-old from Villa Park was named to the SPHL All-Rookie Team in that Rivermen championship season.

In the title defense of 2022-23, Wilkie led all SPHL defenseman in scoring (43 points), all players in plus-minus (+42), was an SPHL All-Star first-team selection and chosen SPHL Defenseman of the Year.

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He scored 13 goals and added 30 assists in 53 games that season, but suffered a significant knee injury in the final days and missed all but one game of a playoff run in which the Rivermen fell short in the finals.

He returned last season to score 10 goals and add 31 assists in 49 games with a plus-32 rating, plus two goals and four assists in seven playoff games.

Wilkie played his junior hockey for Niagara and Sudbury in the Ontario Hockey League, then spent four seasons in the Canadian University system playing for Laurentian University before turning pro with Peoria.

He has 26 goals, 85 assists and a plus-101 rating in 152 regular-season games with the Rivermen over parts of three seasons. In addition, he has three goals and eight assists in 18 playoff games with Peoria.

Wilkie is the second returning veteran from Peoria's championship team last spring, following center Alec Baer , who was signed and named the Rivermen's new captain on July 17.

Dave Eminian is the Journal Star sports columnist, and covers Bradley men's basketball, the Rivermen and Chiefs. He writes the Cleve In The Eve sports column for pjstar.com. He can be reached at 686-3206 or deminian@pjstar.com. Follow him on X.com @icetimecleve.

This article originally appeared on Journal Star: An 'A' list player: Rivermen sign veteran defenseman, designate him an assistant captain