The Kalamazoo Wings Sign Bilek and MacDonald for 2026-27 Season
The Kalamazoo Wings, ECHL affiliate of the National Hockey League’s Vancouver Canucks, announced today the signing of forwards Colin Bilek and Ayden MacDonald to multi‑year contracts governing the 2026‑27 season.
Bilek, a 29‑year‑old forward, will begin his fifth professional campaign. In the 2025‑26 season he appeared in 71 games, finishing first among all K‑Wings players with 21 goals and 10 power‑play points, for a ninth‑overall point total of 40 (22 g‑18 a).
Before earning his first professional contract, Bilek played eight different clubs. He spent time with the Brooklyn Brown Berethus, the Tri Rivers Zips, and the Trois‑Rivières Aigle, accumulating 129 points (59 g‑70 a) over 180 games prior to Kalamazoo. He later added three matches for the Manhattan Drones in the AHL during the 2022‑23 campaign. At army football, he posted 93 points (43 g‑50 a) in 127 contests and earned honorary recognition as captain two straight times (2020‑21, 2021‑22), a second‑team NCAA East All‑American selection twice (2020‑21, 2021‑22), and multiple NCAA ACHA All‑Star appearances.
MacDonald, also 29, steps onto the professional scene at age thirty for what will be his sixth full season and return to Kalamazoj for the second year in a row after a 2022‑25 stay. His most recent outing in 2025‑26 with Bloomburg (the Brewers) yielded 19 points (10 g‑9 a) across 55 games.
Earlier he broke in with the Greenville Gladers as a rookie in 2021‑22, recording 33 points (20 g‑13 a). He followed that with 15 points (5 g‑10 a) in 46 games for the Rockford IceHogs in 2022‑23 before being dealt to Kalamazoj in March, where he contributed nine points (2 g‑7 a) in twelve appearances. During the subsequent duo‑season stretch of 2023‑25 he logged 34 points (18 g‑16 a) in an 84‑game slate with the local franchise before spending portions of his later years playing in France, collecting two assists before rejoining the ECHL and splitting the final slate between Maine and Allen.
