The Saskatoon Blades have acquired 19-year-old defenceman Tristen Doyle in a blockbuster trade with the Lethbridge Hurricanes.
Doyle and a 2026 eighth-round pick are headed to the Bridge City. 2007-born forward Hudson Kibblewhite and three Western Hockey League (WHL) Prospect Draft picks are headed west to Lethbridge. The picks leaving Saskatoon include a 2029 first-rounder, a conditional 2028 third-round selection, and a 2026 fourth-round pick.
"We absolutely love and have huge confidence in our emerging four-man D group in 2007- Kachkowski, Poll, Martin and Klimpke - and we felt it was very important to add one veteran defenceman to that group to insulate them and give them the opportunity to thrive in their roles since we didn’t have any 19 or 20 year 20-year-old defencemen returning with Siepmann and Saunderson graduating," said Blades general manager and president Colin Priestner.
"If those four 18-year-olds hadn’t come along as far as they did, we probably wouldn’t have made this move, but because of their development, we felt our window to compete for a championship was cracked open, especially with the goaltending that we have behind them,” Priestner added.
Doyle, a 188-game WHL veteran, has 16 goals and 52 assists for 68 points across three full seasons with the Hurricanes. The Bonnyville, AB native was drafted by Lethbridge in the first round (17th overall) of the 2021 WHL Prospects Draft. The right-handed shot's best season came last year with the Hurricanes, scoring a career-high six goals and 26 assists for 32 points in 58 games.
"Tristen was a first-round bantam pick and he has shown in his almost 200 WHL games that he is one of the top 2006-born defenceman in the league," said Priestner, "He’s an extremely smooth skater, makes outstanding outlet passes, and is able to play in every role needed for a team like ours to make a big run this year. I believe he is poised to have a breakthrough season. Speaking to him, he’s extremely excited to be in Saskatoon, where he already has several close friends playing for the team."
The 5-foot-10 blueliner brings three assists in 16 games of WHL playoff experience across three separate postseason runs with the Hurricanes.
"He reminds me a lot of Dawson Davidson who fans will remember from a few seasons ago who really rounded out our back end, and he was a guy who used his feet and competitiveness to make a big impact," said Priestner, "With our forward group being as deep and strong as we think it is, having a veteran defenceman who can transport pucks so well up the ice will be huge for us. We hope that he will love his time here in Saskatoon and the opportunity is there for him to be a key two-year player for us, but he will certainly have a multitude of options going into his 20-year-old year next summer as to what he wants to do, so it’s our job to ensure he has the best season of life and wants to stay in Saskatoon for his 20-year-old year to develop."
Kibblewhite was drafted by the Blades in the second round (35th overall) of the 2022 WHL Prospects Draft. The Vernon, BC native scored 13 goals and nine assists in 90 career games with the Blades across two seasons. The 6-foot-2 centre appeared in six postseason games during his tenure with the Blades.
"Hudson was a really well-liked teammate and played many different roles for us the last two years, and we felt this move gave him the best chance to play meaningful minutes in a top 9 role in Lethbridge," said Priestner, "I think their fans will really appreciate his style of play, and we hope he has a great career there as he’s a great kid with a bright future. Centre was a spot we felt we had an abundance of depth at, and he will get offensive chances there, he may not have here with our returning centres, plus adding overage Dominik Petr."
