The Utah Hockey Club used their first draft pick in franchise history to draft Tij Iginla with their sixth overall pick in the first round of the 2024 NHL Entry Draft.
Following the draft, Iginla was injured before the team's rookie development camp, forcing him to miss all that and the start of training camp.
Due to Utah's depth at the forward position, there was never going to be a path that Tij Iginla, son of NHL legend Jerome Iginla, to play in the NHL this season, but that did not stop Tij from impressing the Utah Hockey Club's coaching staff once finally getting on the ice in training camp and the preseason.
Checking in on Utah Hockey Club prospect Tij Iginla
Before getting sent back to his junior hockey team, the Kelowna Rockets of the Western Hockey League (WHL), Iginla played in two preseason NHL games. In those games, he recorded one assist and created many other scoring chances, recording five shots on goal and three quality scoring chances.
While Tij Iginla was looking to impress at the NHL level, his junior team, the Kelowna Rockets, struggled to start the year. Before Iginla was sent back down to the WHL, the Rockets had already lost four straight games to open the season in Iginla's absence.
Since then, Iginla has had four goals and 17 shots on goal in the first four games he has played in the WHL. Three of these goals were scored in his most recent game against the Portland Winterhawks, one of the better teams in the WHL. The Rockets would win this game 9-2, with Iginla finishing as a plus-six on the ice.
After last year, where Iginla scored 47 goals and recorded 84 total points in 64 WHL games, this type of performance against the Portland Winterhawks is what I am sure we will see from Iginla more consistently. There was some disappointment in being sent back to the WHL, and it would take some time to come to grips with the reality of having to play junior hockey for another year. This could have played into a quiet first three games with Kelowna this season.
But this somewhat slow start should not have people concerned about Utah's 2024 first-round draft pick. Iginla will be just fine, and we will likely see him return to his 2023-24 dominance as he gets more comfortable with his WHL teammates.
Regardless, Tij Iginla will be a significant part of the Utah Hockey Club's future. He is an exciting young player with loads of offensive talent. Although he probably could have been serviceable in the NHL this season, Utah has way too much depth at the forward position for him to be needed this year. Iginla would benefit more from being the number one option with the Kelowna Rockets rather than likely being in the rotation of being a healthy scratch or playing fourth-line minutes with the Utah Hockey Club.