It seems like every year now, the children of players we once used to watch are finding their way into the NHL. Well, get ready to feel old, everyone, because the son of another former NHLer should hear his name called pretty early on June 28. A former NHLer, mind you, that was still in the league as recently as 2017, so the vast majority of hockey fans will remember his playing days.
Son of Calgary Flames legend Jarome Iginla, Tij Iginla is one of the hottest prospects coming out of the Western Hockey League, looking to follow in his father’s footsteps.
Birthplace: Lake Country, British Columbia
Date of birth: August 1, 2006
Shoots: Left
Position: Centre/LW
Height: 6′0″
Weight: 185 lbs.
Team: Kelowna Rockets (WHL)
Starting his WHL career with the Seattle Thunderbirds, Iginla took a massive step forward in his draft year after moving to the Kelowna Rockets. He scored 47 goals, and 84 total points through 64 games, second-best on his team to the Washington Capitals’ second-rounder Andrew Cristall. Draft years naturally have a significant impact on draft position, and Iginla couldn’t have done better in putting himself on the map.
He was on draft radars going into the season, but by the midway point he was projected by most to go well into the teens. As he improved during the season, he started creeping into top-10 conversations, and his 12 points through seven games at the under-18 World Juniors capped off a very successful draft year that saw him become one of the biggest risers.
There is a lot to like about Iginla’s game, starting with his compete level. He is relentless in puck pursuit, with his feet always moving, and a penchant for contact unlike most. It feels a little cheap to make this comparison, but the tenacity with which he plays the game is at times reminiscent of his father.
He’s a shooter first, and while he doesn’t quite possess a shot like the Cole Eisermans of this draft, he can beat goaltenders from seemingly any distance. How he sets up those shots, however, is what really allowed him to flirt with the 50-goal plateau last season. He moves smoothly from his dekes into his shooting motion, which creates confusion and screens for him to shoot around.
Moreover, his favourite spot to shoot from appears to be the high slot, and he simply takes the middle of the ice whenever he wants it. He moves through contact, inviting it, keeping his feet moving and looking to win precious space in the middle, where he can really pick his spots. When he wins board battles – which he does a lot – you’ll see him immediately turn and look for a way to take it into middle. That’s where he wants to go, and that’s where he does the bulk of his damage.
He also seems to like the net front the same way he does the high slot. He is very capable of getting to high-percentage areas, and his off-puck positioning got better and better as the year went on. He muscles his way to areas where he knows he can score, and WHL competition didn’t have much of a say in when he would do that.
There is some concern with decision making, as he is prone to trying some over-ambitious dekes to gain the middle, and taking some looks that were better off not being taken. He gets away with these things very easily at the WHL level, but he’ll need to pick his spots better when he turns pro and has to face elite defensive players that have seen every trick in the book.
But those cuts are very quick. While he isn’t an elite skater, his stops and starts make him incredibly shifty, and he has solid agility to get back up to speed and make something happen. You can see why he relies so heavily on his dekes with how easily he was pulling them off in junior. If he can translate even a decent portion of that to the NHL, he’ll be a legitimate top-line scoring threat.
A lot of what he does should translate, so you’re drafting someone with a relatively high floor, as well as some excellent upside. In a worst-case scenario, he should be a very competent middle-six forward with some scoring upside. Ceiling wise, you’re talking about a potential star on your top line. Not a lot of risk goes into selecting him, but there is a massive potential payoff down the road.
Preliminary Rankings
Dobber Prospects: #17
Elite Prospects: #6
FCHockey: #13
Hockey Prospect: #9
Hadi Kalakeche: #14
McKeen’s: #5
Bob McKenzie (TSN): #16
NHL Central Scouting: #9 (North American skaters)
Corey Pronman (The Athletic): #13
Scott Wheeler (The Athletic): #12
One thing to note about the above listed rankings is that some of these outlets/individuals have yet to finalize their lists. As of this writing, Iginla’s consensus ranking is just outside of the top-10, but the expectation is that he’ll climb on some of these lists, and could very well be gone closer to, if not in the top-five.
And he is, at the very least, a person of interest for the Montreal Canadiens. They did take him out to dinner at the combine, but take that with a grain of salt, because Juraj Slafkovsky didn’t get a dinner back in 2022 and he ended up being the name they called anyways. Iginla fills a need for them up front, and possesses a lot of the characteristics that they will be looking for in terms of size, compete level, and elite scoring potential. If he’s not at the top of their list for the fifth-overall choice, he’s bound to be close. He also had maybe the best ever answer to their animal question…
If he does make it past Montreal at five, I don’t see a universe where he’s still around past 10. There is too much upside, and too much NHL-ready skill there for him to last much longer than that.
