Walker returns to Steelheads

Action photo of C.J. Walker of the Idaho Steelheads

BOISE, Idaho – The Idaho Steelheads, ECHL affiliate of the Dallas Stars, announced that the club has re-signed forward C.J. Walker to an contract for the 2025-26 season.

Walker, 26, enters his second professional season after notching 13 points (8g-5a) in 42 games with Idaho last year. The Boise native earned a contract with the Steelheads after attending training camp on a tryout. He began playing hockey when he was six years old and grew up playing for the Junior Steelheads organization. Walker played his youth hockey through Bantams in Boise and was a member of the 2012 14U Tier II National Championship team.

He moved away from Boise at the age of 14 to Wilcox, Saskatchewan to play with the Notre Dame Hounds Program from 2013-16. From 2017-20 he split time playing junior hockey in the United States Hockey League with the Chicago Steel, Des Moines Buccaneers and Omaha Lancers where he appeared in 52 games recording 11 points (4g-7a). He suited up for parts of two season in the North American Hockey League, first with the Wichita Wildcats from 2016-17 collecting 33 points (10g-23a) in 56 games and then with the Lone Star Brahmas during the 2019-20 campaign tallying 28 points (10g-18a) in 44 games.

Walker also played four seasons of college hockey at the University of Wisconsin-Superior from 2020-24 appearing in 93 career games accumulating 52 points (18g-34a). Walker made his professional debut in the Spring of 2024 in the SPHL with the Birmingham Bulls notching 10 points (4g-6a) in 13 games.