A banner day for two Swift Current Broncos defencemen.

Max Lajoie and Colby Sissons have both signed three-year NHL entry-level contracts.

"We're excited for the guys and we're excited for their families," said Broncos Director of Hockey Operations Jamie Porter. "Both of them have earned it by taking some steps every single year and we're proud of the results so far for both of them."

The Ottawa Senators signed Lajoie afer picking him in the 5th round of the most recent NHL draft this June. He had 37 points in 62 games to lead all Broncos defencemen in scoring last season.

"The understanding that we have is that he played very well in the London tournament," Porter said. "Obviously they see the potential in Max and there's an opportunity to fit in at some point. Clearly they didn't want to wait and show a commitment to Max from their side."

"Max has never had an issue with acclimatizing himself to the next level. We've seen it from bantam all the way on through to NHL exhibition. He's poised, he's intelligent, he moves extremely well and he understands the position."

Sissons signed with New Jersey after the Devils invited the undrafted 18-year-old to their camp this fall. He put up 22 points while playing all but one of Swift Current's game as a 17-year-old rookie last season.

"For Colby it all started in the second half of last year when he really found his game and really made some strides at the end," Porter said. "It carried over to the summer. I'm sure there was some disappointment when he wasn't drafted, but the Devils invited him to their rookie tournament. Obviously he put his money where his mouth was and he played well enough to get invited to camp and he comes back with a contract in hand. He controlled his own fate and did what he needed to do."

Sissons went unpicked in his bantam draft year and earned his way on the Broncos as a camp invite. Now he has taken that same step at the highest level.

"It's never come real easily for Colby," Porter said. "Each time he has found a way and thrived. This is another example of it and a huge example."

Swift Current has been playing it slow with young defencemen as Lajoie, Sissons and 2014 first round pick Dom Schmiemann all spent an extra season in Midget. So far it has paid off.

"You want to tell anyone that was the full plan all the way through," Porter said. "We also had some pretty good D on the team that allowed us to buy an opportunity for these young guys. It was beneficial for these young guys. We've had some success with it lately. We've had a lot of success with our defencemen over the last number of years. For whatever reason we've been lucky, the kids have put some time to it and earned it themselves and it's been a number of things."

The Broncos have sent a number of defencemen to the professional ranks in recent years. Since the 2010-11 season Reece Scarlett, Richard Nedomlel, Graeme Craig, Dalton Reum, Dillon Heatherington, Brycen Martin, Julius Honka, Brett Lernout, Ayrton Nikkel, Max Lajioe and Colby Sissons have either been drafted or signed to professional contracts or both. Scarlett, Heatherington, Martin, Honka, Lernout, Lajoie and Sissons are all currently in the systems of NHL teams, while Artyom Minulin is listed as a player to watch by NHL Central Scouting.

"Part of it is the fact that (former Broncos coach) Mark (Lamb) played as a defencemen before he got to pro, you've got (former NHL defenceman) Jamie Heward and now we've got (former professinoal defenceman Manny Viveiros as the new Broncos coach)," Porter noted. "We've had different coaches, but our system, our style and the fact that we have drafted particular types of defenceman over time we have an idea what we're looking for now. Every one of the players we've named are good people. They're motivated, they're driven... the onus isn't just on the team it's on the player. Each of these players has taken control of their own fate too which is what you want to do as a pro."

Both Lajoie and Sissons should be in the lineup for Swift Current as they host Portland tomorrow night.

Colby Sissons (photo by Darwin Knelsen for scbroncos.com)