In the first year since being drafted, it was a shame that a hip injury shut down Iginla. His most recent game was in November of 2024. With expectations about Iginla forming a dynamic duo with Andrew Cristall (WSH), that was true for 21 games before Iginla went down. Iginla scored 14 goals and 32 points in the 21 games he played, a 100-point pace over a 66-game WHL season. When returning, Iginla may step into NHL action immediately, but could also benefit from another year in juniors to fully recover. Aside from being an elite dual-threat offensive talent, Iginla is one of the most refined junior players along the wall. His win rate on 50/50 pucks is absurd. The little details allow him to expose junior competition. Right now, when healthy, Iginla could win most of his 50/50s with NHL talents. Iginla will be great for Utah as long as he can bounce back from his injury. The future looks bright for the Mammoth’s very first NHL draft pick.

In early December, it was announced that Iginla had undergone successful hip surgery and would miss the rest of the season. After missing most of Utah’s training camp earlier this year due to an undisclosed injury, which was likely to his hip, he could no longer play on it. This explains why Iginla was left off Hockey Canada’s selection camp for the upcoming World Junior Championship. He was very productive for Kelowna though, racking up 14 goals and 32 points in 21 games.

Unfortunately, Iginla ended up missing Utah’s rookie camp and faceoff tournament due to a lower-body injury. He finally joined Utah on the ice in the second week of training camp. In just a few practices and two preseason games appearances, Iginla impressed the coaching staff and several of his teammates before being assigned to Kelowna. Despite not registering a point in those two preseason games, Iginla looked comfortable, being consistently involved in the offensive zone. He’s off to an excellent start in the WHL in 2024-25, racking up 13 goals and 28 points in 19 games. Despite being only 18 years old, Iginla was named an assistant captain on the Rockets.

After an impressive development camp with Utah, the Hockey Club wasted no time signing him to his ELC.

Iginla was selected 6th overall by the Utah HC.

Though the scoring has dried up somewhat from his red-hot start, Tij Iginla still looks like an interesting prospect. Besides the name pedigree, Iginla is an easy player to root for. His habits away from the puck are a definite strength, from his frequent scanning, active stick, good forechecking routes, and hard-nosed backchecking. Iginla’s best skills seem to be in slowing the play down to give him space or finding soft spots on the ice. He gets off the wall to the middle quickly, and can also drift into high-danger areas, and when paired with his lightning-quick snapshot, makes him a dangerous goal scorer. Though his skating isn’t elite, he’s got quickness, stability, and mobility, which helps him be a solid transition player, though they’re more useful off the cycle, where he is just as effective, solving problems and playing a possession game. Iginla might lack the high-end dynamism of some of the other WHLers in this class, but his combination of all-around skills and pro-level habits make him a good bet to be a contributing NHLer. (November Rankings: 18th Overall)