Kamloops Blazers defenceman Olen Zellweger will be looking to repeat as the winner of the WHL Defencemen of the Year award.

The reigning Bill Hunter Memorial Trophy winner, Zellweger went on to score 22 goals and 52 points in 32 regular season games with the Blazers, since the Jan. 8 blockbuster trade that brought him to Kamloops.

The Anaheim Ducks prospect set new personal bests in goals (32) and points (80) this season to lead all Western Conference defencemen. He also won gold with Team Canada at the 2023 World Juniors, along with teammates Caedan Bankier and Logan Stankoven.

A native of Fort Saskatchewan, Alta., Zellweger has put up 183 points (50 goals and 133 assists) in 180 career WHL regular season games split between Everett and Kamloops.

Zellweger beat Victoria’s Gannon Laroque, Edmonton’s Kaiden Guhle, and Moose Jaw’s Denton Mateychuk to win the 2021-22 WHL Defencemen of the Year award, but lost to Hamilton’s Nathan Staios, who was named CHL Defenceman of the Year.

Also up for the 2022-23 Bill Hunter Memorial Trophy, which will be handed out on May 10, is Christoffer Sedoff of the Red Deer Rebels, Stanislav Svozil of the Regina Pats, and Kevin Korchinski of the Seattle Thunderbirds.

The last Blazer to win the WHL Defencemen of the Year was Micki DuPont, who did it in 1999-00. DuPont was also named CHL Defenceman of the Year that season.