It will be a surreal night for Ryan Graham.

Only two days after the Saskatoon Blades traded Graham to Swift Current he will suit up with his new team against his old one tonight.

“Surreal for sure,” Graham said. “It's going to be emotional after having that Blades jersey on since I was 14-years-old. It's weird turning around and playing that team right away but I know all the guys so I think it will be a comfortable game for me. I'm really excited looking forward to it and excited to get started with the Broncos here.”

The overage forward arrives in Swift Current ready for a fresh start after three straight seasons out of the playoffs.

“It was exciting,” Graham said. “It's been some tough years in Saskatoon. I loved the city and I loved the organization. They treated me so well just a class act. It was tough to leave but also very exciting to come here with a playoff team and hopefully we can have some success here.”

Graham got hurt attending Ottawa Senators camp this fall and missed the start of the season. At the same time he had chatted with the Blades and had expressed interest in a new opportunity elsewhere.

“We had a 20-year-old situation there,” Graham said. “We talked and decided it would be a good thing for me to get a fresh start somewhere else, a contending team, it was a good respectful conversation and I ended up coming here. I'm excited about it.”

“Maybe this season wasn't going according to plan in Saskatoon for what they were hoping for,” said Broncos Head Coach and Director of Player Personnel Manny Viveiros. “It was a good opportunity for him to continue to put up some numbers and play for a team that could potentially have a playoff position going forward here.”

The 6'1, 204lbs forward has 60 goals and 57 assists in 248 career WHL regular season games.

“(I'm) a power forward,” Graham said. “I like to use my size and my speed to take the puck up and down the walls and take the puck to the net, drive the net and bang in some goals. That's where I get my work done. Gritty goals usually or coming down on the rush. I like to plant myself in front or get myself in the corners. Those are good areas to score.”

Swift Current has been keeping an eye on the two-time former 20-goal scorer since the beginning of the season.

“He's a big, strong winger,” Viveiros said. “He skates very well, a physical player and has had success scoring in this league. He'll fit right in nicely with our group. He's going to make us bigger up front and add some team speed.”

A high speed, puck pursuit style is something Graham is very open to being a part of.

“That plays right into my game,” Graham said. “I love the rush, I love skating and I love going fast. The Broncos have a quick team here and that's good for me. Playing with Lane (Pederson) I know he is a fast guy too and I think there will be some chemistry there.”

Getting an established goal-scorer wasn't going to be cheap. Swift Current sent the Blades a 2017 2nd round bantam draft pick and a conditional 2018 4th round pick.

“This year the asking price for a lot of 20-year-olds throughout the league... was quite high,” Viveiros said. “We were fortunate enough that we were able to come to a deal with Saskatoon with something we felt comfortable with and bonus he was a player we wanted.”

The Broncos still have another open overage slot. They are willing to talk about filling that hole if the market softens a little.

"Prices are going to have to come down," Viveiros said. "People are asking for high prices right now, but whether they will get them or not who knows. (The Graham trade) gets us more stability in our lineup, more depth in our lineup and now we have the right to sit back and wait to see how the market goes forward. To say that we're going to add another 20-year-old I can't right now and to say we're not going to do it I can't either. That's something we will let play out over the next month or so."

The deal to add Graham is a signal to the Broncos that they are looking to get better right now. It doesn't necessarily mean they are full on buyers this season as of yet.

"We want to see where we are in a month," Viveiros said. "From every indication of how we've played so far this year and with the amount of key personnel missing from our lineup it has been very encouraging for us. We feel we really do have a good core group of hockey players and a good team here. We have very good chemistry in our dressing room. We're adding to get better at this time and we'll re-evaluate later on. We're very, very happy with our club right now and we feel an addition like this will send a message to our club that we are very serious about this."

After attending Minnesota Wild camp twice and then Ottawa's camp this fall, Graham is looking to make a final push for a professional contract this season.

“I think just general consistency in my game,” he noted. “I've had points where I'm lighting it up and then long cold spells. I want to produce offence on a consistent basis and play well in both ends of the ice.”

Most of all Graham is looking forward to getting back in the playoff hunt. As a 16-year-old WHL rookie he was part of a Blades team that hosted the Memorial Cup and hasn't tasted playoff hockey since.

“That's gotta be the most exciting year of hockey I've ever had.” Graham said. “It was great we won 18 games in a row there. High pressure situations but every day coming to the rink was a lot of fun. It has been three long years without playoffs and meaningful games. I can't wait to get back to that and it's something I've been striving for.”

Those meaningful games start tonight as Graham and the Broncos welcome his old team to the Credit Union iPlex. Listen live to the Blades and Broncos on The Eagle 94.1 FM with Robertson Family Group Swift Current Broncos Hockey at 6:30pm. Puck drop is just after 7pm in Swift Current.