(Image Credit: Evan Fitzer and Facebook/Kamloops Blazers)

By Aaron Schulze

Blazers Blueline Trade

Blazers send defenceman Lindgren to Red Deer in exchange for Masters and a first round draft pick

Aug 29, 2022 | 10:22 AM

KAMLOOPS — A massive shakeup on the Kamloops Blazers blue line ahead of the 2022-23 Western Hockey League (WHL) season.

In a news release issued Monday (Aug. 29) morning, the Blazers announced they’ve traded defenceman Mats Lindgren to the Red Deer Rebels for defenceman Kyle Masters and a conditional first round pick in the 2025 WHL Prospects Draft. If the Rebels are part of the 2025 Prospects Draft lottery, the first-round pick will be moved to 2026.

Lindgren, born in 2004, was the Blazers’ second-leading scorer among defencemen in the 2021-22 WHL season. He scored 44 points (five goals and 39 assists) in 68 games in 2021-22, and 54 points (six goals and 48 assists) in 94 games dating back to 2019-20. In the 2022 WHL playoffs, Lindgren scored seven assists in 17 games.

Lindgren was a first-round pick of the Blazers (seventh overall) in the 2019 WHL Prospects Draft. He was recently selected by the Buffalo Sabres in the fourth round (106^th overall) in the 2022 NHL Entry Draft.

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Coming to Kamloops, Masters, born in 2003, scored 14 points (three goals and 11 assists) in 65 games for the Rebels in 2021-22, and 27 points (five goals and 22 assists) in 109 games dating back to 2019-20.

“We are excited to add a player like Kyle to our team,” Shaun Clouston, Blazers head coach and general manager says. “Kyle plays a well-rounded, 200-foot game and we believe he will be a great fit with our group to our defense.”

Like Lindgren, Masters was a first-round WHL Prospects Draft pick in 2018 (16^th overall) and a fourth-round NHL Entry Draft pick (118^th overall by the Minnesota Wild) in 2021.

The Blazers say Masters will join the team for training camp on Friday (Sept. 2).

The Blazers play their first exhibition game Friday, Sept. 9 when they host the Kelowna Rockets at Sandman Centre. Kamloops’ home and season opener is Friday, Sept. 23 against the Portland Winterhawks.

The Blazers will host the Memorial Cup – Canada’s national major junior hockey championship – in 2023.