Saskatoon, SK – The Saskatoon Blades are excited to announce the acquisition of 19-year-old defenceman Tristen Doyle, and a 2026 eighth-round pick from the Lethbridge Hurricanes in exchange for 2007-born forward Hudson Kibblewhite, and three Western Hockey League (WHL) Prospect Draft picks.
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 at 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 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.”
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. It’s our 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, 18, was originally drafted in the second-round (35th overall) in the 2022 WHL Draft. The Vernon, BC, product appeared in 52 games during the 2024-2025 regular season with the Blades totalling 16 points (8g-8a) with eight penalty minutes. He went pointless in four playoff games with Saskatoon in 2025.
The 6’1, 176-pound forward has skated in 90 regular season games in his career with the Blades over two seasons collecting 22 points (13g-9a) along with 12 penalty minutes. In 2022-2023, Kibblewhite appeared in 56 games racking up 81 points (31g-57a) with 26 penalty minutes with the RINK HA Kelowna U18 Prep team at the Canadian Sports School Hockey League.
