Rihards Bukarts

Rihards Bukarts
Rihards Bukarts, 2023
Born (1995-12-31) 31 December 1995
Jūrmala, Latvia
Height 5 ft 11 in (180 cm)
Weight 190 lb (86 kg; 13 st 8 lb)
Position Forward
Shoots Right
Slovak team
Former teams		 HC Prešov
Portland Pirates
Springfield Thunderbirds
HC Zlín
Dinamo Riga
Eisbären Berlin
Schwenninger Wild Wings
Düsseldorfer EG
Admiral Vladivostok
EC KAC
EHC Biel-Bienne
HC Vítkovice
National team  Latvia
NHL draft Undrafted
Playing career 2009–present

Rihards Bukarts (born 31 December 1995) is a Latvian professional ice hockey player who is a forward for HC Prešov of the Slovak Extraliga. Bukarts was selected ninth overall in the 2012 KHL Junior Draft by Dinamo Riga.[1] With the selection, Bukarts became the highest-drafted Latvian in KHL history, four spots higher than his brother Roberts Bukarts in 2009.

Playing career

Bukarts became the youngest player ever to score in the MHL on 15 September 2011. [2] On 2 July 2012, Bukarts signed with Dinamo Riga of the Kontinential Hockey League (KHL) on a two-way contract.[3] Bukarts was selected 7th overall in the 2013 CHL Import Draft by the Brandon Wheat Kings (WHL).[4]

Bukarts was the highest-drafted player in Wheat Kings' history. In the summer of 2013, Bukarts broke his contract with Dinamo Riga and left for North America to play for the Brandon Wheat Kings of the Western Hockey League (WHL). He officially signed a contract on 19 July 2013 with the major junior team.[5] In his first season in North America in 2013–14, Bukarts scored 28 goals in 65 games, adding 26 assists.[6]

In the following 2014–15 season, he featured in 62 games, scoring 33 goals, while also adding 41 assists. On 8 February 2015, Bukarts was named Denny's WHL Player of the Week.[7] Bukarts helped the Wheat Kings reach the WHL finals, suffering defeat against the Kelowna Rockets. In 16 playoff games, Bukarts scored 4 goals and 18 points.[8]

Undrafted, Bukarts accepted a try-out to attend the Edmonton Oilers' training camp in 2015.[9] After his release from the Oilers, Bukarts returned to the Wheat Kings for the 2015–16 season before he was traded to the Portland Winterhawks on 29 October 2015.[10] On 14 December 2015, Rihards Bukarts was named the WHL Player of the Week for the 2nd time in his career.[11] In 55 games with the Winterhawks, Bukarts amassed 53 points. At the conclusion of his major junior career, Bukarts joined the Portland Pirates of the AHL, an affiliate to the Florida Panthers, on an amateur try-out basis to complete the season. He recorded an assist in a solitary game.[12]

Bukarts attended the Panthers' rookie camp after signing a one-year deal with the Panthers' AHL affiliate, the Springfield Thunderbirds. He attended Florida's main training camp, before he was reassigned to begin the 2016–17 season with the Thunderbirds.[13] He split the season between Springfield and the ECHL with the Manchester Monarchs.

As a free agent in the following off-season, Bukarts returned to Europe, agreeing to an initial one-year contract with HC Zlin of the Czech Extraliga on 21 August 2017.[14] In the 2017–18 season, Bukarts left the Czech Republic after 17 games, making appearances in the Kontinental Hockey League with Dinamo Riga before completing the season with German club, Eisbären Berlin of the Deutsche Eishockey Liga (DEL).

Bukarts opted to continue in the DEL as a free agent, agreeing to a one-year deal with the Schwenninger Wild Wings on 13 July 2018.[15] In the 2018–19 season, Bukarts contributed with 22 points through 42 games, but was unable to help the Wild Wings progress to the post-season. Bukarts left Schwenninger at the conclusion of his contract at the end of the season.[16]

On 13 May 2019, Bukarts secured a one-year contract to continue in the DEL with Düsseldorfer EG.[17]

On 14 November 2020, he re-joined Dinamo Riga of the KHL on a tryout basis.[18] On 9 December 2020, the team signed him to a two-way deal for the rest of the season.[19] He finished the season with 17 points in 33 games.[20]

On 17 August 2021, Bukarts signed a one-year deal with Admiral Vladivostok of the KHL.[21]

On 2 November 2022, he signed a deal for the rest of the season with EC KAC of the ICE Hockey League (ICEHL).[22]

Without a contract to start the season for the third time in four years, Bukarts signed a three-month deal with EHC Biel-Bienne of the National League (NL) on 24 October 2023.[23] Upon the end of the deal, Bukarts signed a contract with HC Vítkovice of the Czech Extraliga.[24]

Bukarts was limited to just 20 games with HC Vítkovice due to two knee surgeries in 2024-25, and left the team at the end of the season.[25]

Bukarts was without a team to begin the 2025-26 season until 25 December 2025, when he signed with HC Prešov of the Slovak Extraliga.[26]

International play

Medal record
Representing  Latvia
Ice hockey
World Championships
2023 Finland/Latvia

Bukarts participated at the 2012 and 2013 IIHF World U18 Championships and also 2013 IIHF World U20 Championships he was a member of the Latvia men's national junior ice hockey team. He finished with the most penalty minutes in the tournament.

He represented Latvia at the 2023 IIHF World Championship where he recorded three goals and eight assists and won a bronze medal, Latvia's first ever IIHF World Championship medal.[27]

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

Regular season Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
2008–09 SK Sāga LAT.2 14 9 5 14 — — — — —
2009–10 SK Rīga 18 LAT U18 9 7 11 18 2 — — — — —
2010–11 SK Sāga LAT.2 19 19 30 49 10 — — — — —
2011–12 Kapitan Stupino MHL 47 11 11 22 22 — — — — —
2011–12 SK Sāga LAT.2 11 28 31 59 12 — — — — —
2012–13 HK Rīga MHL 62 18 17 35 44 3 0 0 0 0
2012–13 HK Rīga LAT — — — — — 2 0 1 1 0
2013–14 Brandon Wheat Kings WHL 65 28 26 54 50 9 0 4 4 0
2014–15 Brandon Wheat Kings WHL 62 33 41 74 21 16 4 14 18 8
2015–16 Brandon Wheat Kings WHL 10 5 4 9 11 — — — — —
2015–16 Portland Winterhawks WHL 55 26 27 53 24 4 2 1 3 6
2015–16 Portland Pirates AHL 1 0 1 1 0 — — — — —
2016–17 Springfield Thunderbirds AHL 14 0 3 3 4 — — — — —
2016–17 Manchester Monarchs ECHL 37 16 17 33 26 — — — — —
2017–18 Aukro Berani Zlín ELH 17 2 2 4 20 — — — — —
2017–18 Dinamo Rīga KHL 14 1 0 1 0 — — — — —
2017–18 Eisbären Berlin DEL 2 0 1 1 0 16 4 4 8 6
2018–19 Schwenninger Wild Wings DEL 42 9 13 22 14 — — — — —
2019–20 Düsseldorfer EG DEL 48 10 9 19 24 — — — — —
2020–21 Dinamo Rīga KHL 33 11 6 17 10 — — — — —
2021–22 Admiral Vladivostok KHL 25 6 3 9 12 — — — — —
2022–23 EC KAC ICEHL 28 13 12 25 8 5 1 2 3 0
2023–24 EHC Biel-Bienne NL 11 1 1 2 0 – – – – –
2023–24 HC Vítkovice Ridera ELH 18 7 4 11 10 3 1 1 2 0
ELH totals 51 11 9 20 38 3 1 1 2 0
KHL totals 72 18 9 27 22 — — — — —
DEL totals 92 19 23 42 38 16 4 4 8 6
ICEHL totals 28 13 12 25 8 5 1 2 3 0
NL totals 11 1 1 2 0 — — — — —

International

Year Team Event Result GP G A Pts PIM
2012 Latvia WJC18 9th 6 0 5 5 2
2013 Latvia WJC 10th 6 0 1 1 4
2013 Latvia WJC18 10th 6 1 1 2 0
2017 Latvia WC 10th 7 0 3 3 2
2018 Latvia WC 8th 8 1 2 3 4
2019 Latvia WC 10th 7 0 3 3 4
2021 Latvia WC 11th 7 1 0 1 0
2021 Latvia OGQ Q 3 1 1 2 0
2022 Latvia OG 11th 4 0 0 0 0
2022 Latvia WC 10th 7 2 3 5 0
2023 Latvia WC 10 3 8 11 8
2023 Latvia OGQ Q 3 1 1 2 0
Junior totals 18 1 7 8 6
Senior totals 56 9 21 30 18

References

  1. ^ "Dinamo" draftē Bukartu un Golovkovu" (in Latvian). Sportacentrs.com. 26 May 2012. Retrieved 26 May 2012.
  2. ^ "Rihards Bukarts gūst pirmos vārtus MHL čempionātā" (in Latvian). Delfi.lv. 16 September 2011. Retrieved 16 September 2011.
  3. ^ "Dinamo" paraksta līgumu ar Rihardu Bukartu" (in Latvian). Sportacentrs.com. 2 July 2012. Retrieved 2 July 2012.
  4. ^ "CHL draftā ar 7. numuru izvēlēts Rihards Bukarts" (in Latvian). Nra.lv. 3 July 2013. Retrieved 3 July 2013.
  5. ^ "Rihards Bukarts un Golovkovs karjeru turpinās Kanādā" (in Latvian). Tvnet.lv. 19 July 2013. Retrieved 19 July 2013.
  6. ^ "Rihards Bukarts - Stats, Contract, Salary & More". www.eliteprospects.com. Retrieved 6 February 2026.
  7. ^ "Wheat Kings' Bukarts Named Denny's WHL Player of the Week". OurSports Central. 10 February 2015. Retrieved 6 February 2026.
  8. ^ "Rihards Bukarts - Stats, Contract, Salary & More". www.eliteprospects.com. Retrieved 6 February 2026.
  9. ^ "Oilers announce Young Stars roster featuring Connor McDavid". edmontonjournal. Archived from the original on 18 May 2022. Retrieved 6 February 2026.
  10. ^ "Winterhawks acquire Rihards Bukarts". Portland Winterhawks. 29 October 2015. Retrieved 29 October 2015.
  11. ^ chlwebproduct (14 December 2015). "Rihards Bukarts Named Player of the Week". Portland Winterhawks. Retrieved 6 February 2026.
  12. ^ "Rihards Bukarts - Stats, Contract, Salary & More". www.eliteprospects.com. Retrieved 6 February 2026.
  13. ^ "Springfield Thunderbirds | Panthers Assign 8 To Thunderbirds". Springfield Thunderbirds. Retrieved 6 February 2026.
  14. ^ "Bukarts agrees to terms with Zlin". Instagram. 21 August 2017. Retrieved 21 August 2017.
  15. ^ "Rihards Bukarts moves to Schwenninger". Schwenninger Wild Wings (in German). 13 July 2018. Archived from the original on 21 August 2018. Retrieved 13 July 2018.
  16. ^ "First personnel decisions made". Schwenninger Wild Wings (in German). 4 March 2019. Archived from the original on 11 December 2019. Retrieved 4 March 2019.
  17. ^ "Addition from Latvia: Rihards Bukarts moves to DEG". Düsseldorfer EG (in German). 13 May 2019. Archived from the original on 13 May 2019. Retrieved 13 May 2019.
  18. ^ "Рихард Букартс вернулся в рижское «Динамо». С ним подписан пробный контракт". Спортс’’ (in Russian). 14 November 2020. Retrieved 6 February 2026.
  19. ^ "Рижское «Динамо» подписало полноценные контракты с Рихардом Букартсом и Гунаром Скворцовым". Спортс’’ (in Russian). Retrieved 6 February 2026.
  20. ^ "Rihards Bukarts - Stats, Contract, Salary & More". www.eliteprospects.com. Retrieved 6 February 2026.
  21. ^ "«Адмирал» подписал контракт с Букартсом на год". Спортс’’ (in Russian). 17 August 2021. Retrieved 6 February 2026.
  22. ^ "EC-KAC verpflichtet Rihards Bukarts – EC-KAC - Klagenfurt Eishockey" (in German). Retrieved 6 February 2026.
  23. ^ Biel, E. H. C. (24 October 2023). "Done deal - Rihards Bukarts joins EHC Biel effective immediately". swisshockeynews.ch. Retrieved 6 February 2026.
  24. ^ Sportacentrs (17 January 2024). "Biel's Rihards Bukarts has reportedly signed with Vitkovice". swisshockeynews.ch. Retrieved 6 February 2026.
  25. ^ www.esportsmedia.cz, eSports cz, s r o- (2 April 2025). "VÍTKOVICE se loučí s devíti hráči". HC Vítkovice Ridera (in Czech). Retrieved 6 February 2026.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  26. ^ "Instagram". www.instagram.com. Retrieved 6 February 2026.
  27. ^ "Latvia wins historic bronze in OT". IIHF.com. 28 May 2023. Retrieved 28 May 2023.
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