Broncos move Kettles to Kelowna in early season blockbuster trade

The Swift Current Broncos have traded NHL draft pick Peyton Kettles to the Kelowna Rockets for a package of draft picks, the team announced Thursday.

“It’s been in the works for a while,” Broncos general manager Chad Leslie said in a video posted to social media after the trade. “With the Memorial Cup in the west and Peyton being the player he is, certainly it’s something that’s been talked about.

“There [were] numerous teams very interested in Peyton. It was inevitable something like this was going to happen for us and the direction we’ve been to.”

Kettles, a Winnipeg, MB product, was selected by the Pittsburgh Penguins in the second round (39th overall) of the 2025 NHL Draft. The six foot six, 196-pound right-shot defenseman has appeared in two games so far this season with Swift Current, recording two points.

This is the second trade the Broncos have made this week, after sending forward Rylan Gould to Everett for 16-year-old forward Damen Vanderberg and a conditional 2026 first-round pick in the WHL Prospects Draft.

“Values for those players are high,” Leslie said. “For the cycle we’re in, we had to take advantage of it. Peyton has been here for a long time, he’s been a loyal soldier and had a lot of ups and downs here with us.”

Internationally, Kettles represented Team Canada at the 2024 Hlinka Gretzky Cup, where he helped lead his country to a gold medal.

“We’re very pleased to add Peyton to our organization,” said Rockets General Manager Bruce Hamilton in a media release Thursday. “He’s a steady, shutdown defender who plays with composure and has proven he can handle big minutes against top competition. His size and edge to his game is something we look forward to having on our back end; he will be an important piece moving forward.”

In return, Swift Current received 2007-born defenceman Jackson Gillespie from Kelowna.

“I really like the way he plays,” the Broncos GM said about his new player. “He’s a mobile, intelligent puck mover. He keeps things very simple. High character, low maintenance kid.”

“And a guy [who] gives us a righty and some league experience for young D corps as well,” Leslie added.

Gillespie, currently in his third WHL season, appeared in 65 games for Kelowna last season, recording 5 goals and 10 assists for 15 points. Through six games this season, the Keller, Texas product has registered one assist.

In addition to Gillespie, the Broncos receive the following selections:

• 2027 1st Round Pick (Regina)
• 2026 2nd Round Pick (Wenatchee)
• 2029 2nd Round Pick
• 2026 4th Round Pick
• 2029 4th Round Pick

“Just another opportunity for us to restock the cupboards and have assets available to us to draft and develop,” Leslie said. “In my time here in Swift Current, everybody understands I’m not scared to make a deal. So that gives us more ammunition to do what we need to do.”

Swift Current currently sits seventh place in the Western Hockey League’s Eastern Conference with a 6-5-1 record through 12 games.

The Broncos’ next matchup is in Red Deer Saturday night against the Rebels.