hris Armstrong, Ashley Smith and General Manager Bill Amrstrong of the Utah Hockey Team chat prior to the first round of the 2024 Upper Deck NHL Draft at Sphere on June 28, 2024 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)
(Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)
SALT LAKE CITY – Utah GM Bill Armstrong juked us all with the team’s first-ever draft selection. After telling everyone they were looking for a big, mobile defenseman, Utah Hockey Club selected forward Tij Iginla from Kelowna (WHL) in the first round (sixth overall) of the 2024 NHL Draft.
The 5-foot-11, 183-pound Iginla registered 47-37-84 and was plus-17 in 64 games with Kelowna last season, leading the team in goals and ranking second in scoring. Iginla also recorded 9-6-15 in 11 playoff games.
“He’s gonna make his own name in Utah.” – Bill Armstrong on @utahhockeyclub draft pick Tij Iginla#UtahHC #NHLDraft pic.twitter.com/Zpnf6CO6FM
— KSL Sports (@kslsports) June 29, 2024
The Lake Country, British Columbia native tallied 6-12-18 in 48 games with Seattle (WHL) in 2022-23, helping the club win the WHL championship. Iginla played alongside current Utah forward Dylan Guenther in Seattle and was one of three 16-year-olds to play with Seattle that season.
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Over three WHL seasons with Kelowna and Seattle, Iginla recorded 53-50-103 and plus-24 in 115 career games.
“We were able to walk out with our number one guy.” – @utahhockeyclub GM Bill Armstrong #UtahHC #NHLDraft pic.twitter.com/BDsAuzcwsq
— KSL Sports (@kslsports) June 29, 2024
Iginla also won a gold medal with Team Canada at the 2024 IIHF U18 World Junior Championship, tallying 6-6-12 in seven games.
Tij is the son of NHL Hall of Famer Jarome Iginla, who won Gold in the 2002 Olympics in the Maverik Center. Tij was selected sixth overall in the 2024 draft and his father, Jarome, was selected 11th overall in 1995. Thus, they became members of a small group.
Other father-son duos drafted in the first round of the NHL draft include Darryl (8th -1970) and Ryan Sittler (7th -1992), Dave (12 -1983) and Sam Gagner (6th-2007), Former Golden Eagle, Paul Reinhart (12th -1979) and his two sons Griffen (4th -2012) and Sam (2nd -2014), Mike Sillnger (11th -1998) and his son Cole (12th -2021).
