2024 Draft Profile: Tij Iginla

Tij Iginla is a very exciting prospect in the upcoming 2024 NHL draft. Given his father is Jarome Iginla, a Hall of Fame hockey player, the expectations were high for Tij to succeed in hockey. He finished strong in his junior league, carried over a high level of performance in the playoffs, then performed very well on Canada’s top line at the World U-18 tournament.

Bio

Left Wing
Shoots: Left
DOB: 8/1/2006
Height: 6’0″
Weight: 185 lbs

Rankings

Elite Prospects: 6
Future Considerations: 13
Daily Faceoff: 11
The Hockey News (Ferrari): 8
The Hockey News (Kennedy): 9
TSN (Bob McKenzie): 16
TSN (Craig Button): 3
NHL Central Scouting (N.American): 9
Sportsnet (Cosentino): 10
Sportsnet (Bukala): 5
Recruit Scouting: 6
Dobber Prospects: 7
Draft Prospects Hockey: 13
Smaht Scouting: 9
FloHockey: 12
Mckeen’s Hockey: 5

Statistics

Scouting Report

Tij has a great combination of physical and skilled puck traits. He plays aggressively but not recklessly. There is purpose to his forecheck and he willingly initiates contact if it will help generate a turnover or throw an opponent off their game.

The last half of the season was a revelation, scoring at will. He had a slow start in the fall, but that could be explained by his trade to a new team in the offseason.

Iginla, like his dad, has a great shot. He can execute it after a deft dangle in close, or when firing from the faceoff circle. His skating is very good, but not elite. However, his puck handling is excellent, and he is very willing to drive the play at his top speed. Tij has excellent hockey sense and is an adept passer. He did not execute a high number of passes, instead preferring to skate the puck himself. I don’t believe that makes him a selfish player. His linemate for most of his WHL season was Andrew Cristall, who is an excellent playmaker, and their skill sets are complementary.

His effort level is always very high, making him a tenacious player on defence and when trying to force a turnover in the opponent’s or neutral zone. His style of play should make it very easy for him to adapt to the NHL game when he’s ready. Tij also has stated he talked to his junior coach about playing centre in Kelowna next season, so if he succeeds in that role that will make him more versatile and attractive to the NHL team that drafts him.

Timeline

Although Tij has a similar body frame to his father’s, he needs more time to develop physically. He is at least one year away from breaking into the NHL, and the odds are he may need two seasons. After that, if he’s further developed, then his overall game and talent should grant him an excellent chance at cracking into a fourth line role to start his young NHL career. With the rest of his tools, he has a strong chance at developing his pro game on the fly and rising up the depth charts relatively quickly.