Tij Iginla doesn’t seem to be showing any signs of slowing down.
The Kelowna Rockets forward has had an incredible start to his 2023-24 season. The 17-year-old was able to score in his fourth straight game last night versus the Lethbridge Hurricanes, giving him 18 goals on the season. It is a massive improvement from the six he managed a year ago, and it’s even more impressive given that he has only played in 22 games so far.
Thanks to his outstanding start, Iginla has quickly risen up the draft rankings and was recently projected by Sportsnet’s Sam Cosentino to be a first-round pick in the 2024 draft.
āCan get underneath players to dislodge pucks and then use a power stride to get it to the net front,ā Cosentino wrote about Iginla. āCan also beat goalies from distance.ā
Iginla, who is the son of Calgary Flames icon Jarome, was acquired by the Rockets this offseason in a trade from the Seattle Thunderbirds. Due to playing on a stacked Thunderbirds roster a season ago, Iginla wasn’t able to get much playing time, but still finished the year with a solid 18 points in 48 games.
The trade has done wonders for the young forward, as he and teammate Andrew Cristall, a second-round pick of the Washington Capitals, have formed a fantastic duo that is torching other WHL teams on a nightly basis.
Given that Iginla is expected to go in the first round of the 2024 draft, fans in Calgary are praying that the Flames will be able to select him in June. The Flames do have their first-round pick at the upcoming draft, but what pick they will have remains to be seen.
Based on their play to begin the season, it seemed as though the Flames may be on their way to being a lottery team for the 2024 draft. However, they have shown great signs of improvement as of late, and could very well end up selecting in the mid-to-late part of the first round ā which, as of now, is where Iginla is projected to go.
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