The puck drops on the WHL pre-season tonight with an annual tradition between two rivals.

The Moose Jaw Warriors host the Swift Current Broncos tonight in the rookie game.

Broncos Director of Hockey Operations Jamie Porter noted they will have some older players in the lineup, but not a ton of experience.

"We're going to have a couple of '99-born players in the game, but they were either rookies last year or are rookies this year," he said. "Our most experienced guys would be Dom Schmiemann, Jake Hobson, Tanner Mole, Owen Blocker, and Riley Stotts."

The Broncos view it as an opportunity to get young players used to the environment of a WHL game in a somewhat controlled environment, as well as a good evaluating tool.

"We want to see that they are comfortable and that they get better shift by shift and period by period," Porter said. "We want a few of them to at least get some experience in the game so if they don't stay here this season and come back next year, it's just one more step for them to have made - get some of the anxiety and the nerves out of the process. At the same time, you want to see if a guy can impress you."

The Broncos cut their camp down to only three teams and just over 60 players this year. They were pleased with how that upped the level of play.

"I was quite happy with how camp went going down to three teams certainly elevated the competition level," Porter said. "We're happy with the play and with a number of guys the work they put in going into this year."

"All or nearly all of our veterans came back in excellent shape," Porter said. "I certainly see that our guys made some strides feeding off of the playoffs last year. At the same time we have a number of young guys who also look like they have put the time in and are pushing for spots. Now that our numbers are down we get to see how that plays out."

Goaltending will be on display in the game against Moose Jaw as Bailey Brkin, Joel Hofer and 15-year-old Ethan Hein are still with the team for the moment. The older two are looking to compete with veteran Taz Burman for a place on the roster.

"We were happy that Bailey Brkin and Joel Hofer looked like they've made the next step," Porter said. "We need the two of them to push for that spot and push Taz also. It looks like we are going to have a battle and that's certainly what we were hoping for to give us some options."

The forward group could be looking for scoring punch especially if Glenn Gawdin and Lane Pederson start their professional careers this season. There were positive signs at camp that the scoring could come from within. 

"Obviously we're going to need a couple guys to take a big step from last year talking about returning guys," Porter said. "A couple of our young guys on our list coming in look like they're ready or close to ready. It'll give us an idea at least of a start for the next few months and then we'll kind of re-evaluate again if we're going to need to add or if we can stand pat for a few months."

Up front the Broncos bring rookies MacKenzie Wight, Josh Baker, Ethan Regnier, Ben King, Nolan Corrado, Quinton Waitzner and Logan Barlage into pre-season action. Wight played 17 regular season games and 12 in the playoffs last season, while King is only in his 15-year-old season and can't stay with the team full time until next fall.

2016 first round bantam draft pick Jacson Alexander was at camp and looked ready to compete for a position on the blue line at 16. He chose not to stay with the club and returned to Victoria where he may play with the BCHL's Grizzlies.

"Jacson's situation is on-going," Porter said. "He came to experience camp again and Jacson had pushed for that himself reaching out to us. He still hasn't made a definitive decision. He came, competed and played very well. Ultimately he wants to go home right now and take it month-by-month and see where it goes. He did indicate that he hasn't made a decision either way and we're going to let that play out and see what transpires."

Alexander had committed to the University of Denver in the NCAA last season, but he couldn't begin playing there until at least 2019-20. The Broncos are still hopeful he could suit up in their uniform one day.

"Every situation is different," Porter said. "Expecting guys to sign right away isn't as common as it used to be. Some guys aren't ready and some guys the situation isn't a fit yet. Some guys need to be 17 and we've even seen some guys on our roster their first season is at 18. Him ultimately coming at some point is the process we're looking at whether it's now or later. We will just keep that option open and see where it goes."

Swift Current still has a few rookies to take a look at during pre-season on their back end. 16-year-old Connor Horning, 17-year-old Christian Reimer and 18-year-old Noah King are all making their case on a group that can return six defencemen from last season's team.

The Broncos will then head to Regina for two more exhibition games on the weekend.