Utah’s Tij Iginla Ranked No. 9 On Top 100 Elite Prospect List

SALT LAKE CITY – On Tuesday morning, Elite Prospects, one of the top statistical hockey resources, released a sneak peek of their top 100 NHL-affiliated skaters list. Coming in at No. 9 and representing the Utah Hockey Club was 2024 first-round pick Tij Iginla.

Utah’s Tij Iginla comes in at No. 9 here.

This is a great list to be on, especially inside the top 10. Iginla has a lot of potential to be the future face of the franchise.

He’s a very gifted offensive talent who can do a little bit of everything. https://t.co/1LrmX4Cug4

— Cole Bagley (@BagleyKSLsports) August 27, 2024

High Honors for Tij Iginla

To make this list a testament of talent for young skaters, especially cracking the top 10 and being considered one of the future faces of the NHL. As the No. 9 ranked prospect, Iginla joins the likes of Macklin Celebrini, Matvei Michkov, Ivan Demidov, Cayden Lindstrom and Cutter Gauthier just to name a few.

“Iginla can do it all,” the video’s narrator states. “He’s a sniper, a playmaker, a net front scorer, a dynamic rush attacker, a puck attacker, and that’s just offensively. Few players combine the flash and function as well as Iginla.”

“This is a player that has what it takes to become a top six forward in the NHL,” The narrator added.

Iginla’s Skillset

Like the video states, Iginla really can do it all. In 64 appearances for the Kelowna Rockets of the WHL last season, Iginla absolutely scorched opposing nets with 47 goals and 37 assists.

This kind of production caught the attention of numerous NHL scouts and Iginla quickly climbed his way to the top of the first round.

Overall, Iginla was one of the best all-around players taken in the 2024 draft. Not only can he score in a plethora of ways, but he has really good hands which allow him to weave through defenders quickly. He also has elite positioning which permits him to consistently create dangerous opportunities for himself and others.

Related: Utah Hockey Club Prospect Profiles: Tij Iginla

Iginla’s Anticipated Arrival

Like most prospects, Iginla will likely still need more time to develop before he’s fully NHL ready. While he will attend Utah’s rookie and training camps this season, its anticipated that Iginla will return to Kelowna for another year.

If he can continue producing at high levels, Iginla will have a great shot to make Utah’s roster next season.

Notably, Iginla was joined by several other Utah Hockey Club prospects on the top 100 list, including Dmitri Simashev (No. 12), Daniil But (No. 32), Maveric Lamoureux (No. 68) and Cole Beaudoin (No. 82).

Michael Hrabal was also named No. 11 on the top 15 goaltender prospect list.

Utah has a lot of really talented players in their pipeline.

The future is bright ⭐️🏒 https://t.co/qCj9onITiC

— Cole Bagley (@BagleyKSLsports) August 27, 2024

Utah Hockey Schedule

Fans can watch Iginla’s first game with the Utah Hockey Club on September 13 against Macklin Celebrini and the San Jose Sharks during the rookie tournament.

All rookie tournament games will be live streamed for free on UtahHockeyClub.com.

Cole Bagley is the Utah Hockey Club insider for KSL Sports. Keep up with him on X here. You can hear Cole break down the team on KSL Sports Zone and KSL 5 TV.

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