Utah Hockey Club selects Tij Iginla as number 6 in the NHL draft

LAS VEGAS – The Utah Hockey Club chose a legendary prospect in its first-ever NHL Draft on Friday, selecting forward Tij Iginla, the son of former Calgary Flames captain Jarome Iginla, with the No. 6 overall pick.

Iginla is coming off a stellar season with the Kelowna Rockets of the Western Hockey League, where he scored 47 goals and 84 points in 64 games. The 17-year-old couldn’t believe he would be making history as the first draftee for the NHL’s newest expansion team.

“It’s unreal,” Iginla said. “I don’t think I’ve understood it yet.”

Utah will move up to the Central Division next season after the league relocated its former Arizona Coyotes club to Salt Lake City in April. Rather than conducting an expansion draft (as new franchisees typically do), Utah acquired the Coyotes’ entire roster, management and coaching staff.

Now part of the franchise, Iginla will look to follow in his famous father’s footsteps. The elder Iginla played over 1,500 games in the NHL, scoring 625 goals and 1,300 points before retiring in 2017. Iginla was a six-time NHL All-Star and was elected to the NHL Hall of Fame in 2020.

Iginla shares some similarities with his father on the ice, including a great shot and quick hands. However, Iginla has already beaten his father to the punch, being drafted five spots higher than Jarome Iginla, who the Dallas Stars took No. 11 in 1995. But don’t expect the younger Iginla to be teasing his dads just yet.

“I need to polish my resume a bit before I can show off,” he said, laughing.

Jarome Iginla, on the other hand, couldn’t be happier with where his son ended up.

“You dream about it,” he said. “You don’t know what the day is going to be like. We’re up there and it’s so unpredictable. Any city is a great city, but Utah, we’re excited. We’re very happy for him. He’s worked hard and it’s a big day.”

It was a slow climb for Iginla to be considered a top-10 talent. While playing for the WHL’s Seattle Thunderbirds in 2022-23, Iginla scored just six goals and 18 points in 48 games. It was his subsequent trade from Seattle to Kelowna – and his blistering pace for the Rockets last season – that catapulted Iginla up the draft lists. Iginla was also part of Team Canada’s 2024 U18 team; during the tournament, he scored six goals and 12 points in seven games and scored the game-winning goal for Canada that secured a gold medal.

Iginla may not make Utah’s roster right away next year, but Friday’s celebration is one he won’t soon forget.

“It’s a huge honor,” he said. “It would have been a surreal feeling to hear my name called by any team, but to be a franchise’s first pick is really cool.”