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WHL Saskatoon Blades

Blades Add 'Size' and 'Toughness' with 2004-Born Defenceman Babcock in Three-Way Trade

January 10, 2024 - Western Hockey League (WHL)
Saskatoon Blades News Release


Saskatoon, SK - The Saskatoon Blades are proud to announce the acquisition of 19-year-old defenceman John Babcock from the Kelowna Rockets in a three-way trade including the Edmonton Oil Kings.

The trade breakdown is as follows:

SAS receives

John Babcock (D) ('04) from KEL

KEL receives

Carter Kowalyk (D) ('05) from EDM

2024 second-round pick (MH) from SAS

2026 third-round pick (SEA) from SAS

2025 fourth-round pick (EDM) from EDM

EDM receives

Ismail Abougouche (D) ('06) from KEL

2026 second-round pick (SAS) from SAS

"John has been our number one target since November, and we really feel he was the last missing piece for us in assembling a championship-level roster," said Blades general manager and president Colin Priestner.

A 160-game WHL veteran, Babcock brings size and an impressive two-way game to a championship hungry Blades team. The 6-foot-2 blueliner owns three goals and ten points in 35 games this season with Kelowna and spots an impressive +13 rating. Babock has accumulated seven goals and 44 points in his WHL career, tacking on 169 penalty minutes.

"He is one of the premier shut-down defencemen in the league and brings a new dimension of size, toughness, and leadership to our back end that we will need to make a deep run into April and hopefully May and into next year as well," said Preistner.

The North Vancouver, BC product brings a chunk of playoff experience with nine postseason games across the last two years. A reliable presence on the blueline, Babcock slots into a already deep and skilled defensive core.

"Bruce Hamilton has been one of the best managers in the history of our league and I highly value his judgement," said Priestner. "When he tells me John's leadership and toughness are off-the-charts that means a lot. We can't wait to welcome him to our club this week."

The Blades want to welcome the Babcock family into the organization and can't wait to work with John as the club continues its push for their first WHL Championship.

Check out the Saskatoon Blades Statistics



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