The Swift Current Broncos pulled off a blockbuster trade this afternoon with the Wenatchee Wild bolstering their offence.

Swift Current landed Arizona Coyotes first-round draft pick Conor Geekie for Josh Fluker, Sam Ward, Maddix McCagherty, two first-round draft picks (2025 & 2026), a second-round draft pick in 2025, and a 2027 seventh-round draft pick.

With almost half the season remaining and Swift Current only eight points behind Medicine Hat for the Central Division lead, Broncos General Manager Chad Leslie felt the deal was the right move for the organization.

"We've been counting on this group for a while and I wanted to do everything I could to support them," he told Swift Current Online. "We've got some young players coming up in the system we feel strongly about. We had an opportunity to take a swing and we did."

Geekie instantly becomes the Broncos leading scorer with 20 goals and point producer with 49 in only 26 regular season games. The 6-foot-4 centre played an integral role on the Canadian world junior team that finished fifth in Gothenburg, Sweden earlier this week.

Leslie, born in Elkhorn, Manitoba was drawn to his provincial counterpart in Geekie, from Strathclair, for several reasons.

"I think it's his combination of his size, sense, skill, compete," he said. "He can play any way you want and do it effectively with a big body up the middle, it just gives you another dimension."

Swift Current has now added two highly regarded NHL prospects to their roster this week as they signed import defenceman Jakub Dvorak to help stabilize the backend. The Czechia-born 18-year-old was a second-round draft pick of the Los Angeles Kings at the 2023 NHL Entry Draft and was picked by the Broncos 22nd overall in the 2022 CHL Import Draft. 

Leslie said they worked at trying to sign the 6-foot-5 left-shot defenceman for a while and were impressed with his Broncos debut last night against Lethbridge.

"Basically it was a free add for us," he remarked. "That made the Geekie deal a little more intriguing because of the assets saved of not having to go out and acquire that defenceman." 

The third-year general manager spoke highly of the three younger players headed back to Wenatchee praising Ward as a team-first player, Fluker as being one of the best skaters in his age group internationally, and McCagherty for his offensive upside.

"He [McCagherty] wanted an opportunity and was not getting the opportunity he wanted here," he said. 

Now that Swift Current has begun to put significant future assets on the line with the Geekie deal, it appears they may have more transactions in-store.

"We're going to listen, we're going to explore some opportunities, and by no means do I think we're finished," he said. "I'm not going to disclose if we're going to do something big but we're always looking to add."

Geekie is expected to be in the Broncos lineup for the first time on January 9 when Swift Current plays host to the Tri-City Americans.