Tij Iginla, like his father, can forever call himself a first-round pick.
The Kelowna Rockets forward and Lake Country product was selected by the Utah Hockey Club in the first round (sixth overall) of the NHL draft on Friday, June 28.
Utah's selection on Friday night marked the franchise's first since it relocated from Arizona in April.
Iginla, the son of Hockey Hall of Famer Jarome Iginla, scored 47 goals while amassing 84 points in 64 games with Kelowna in 2023-2024.
His father, a first-round pick of the Dallas Stars in 1995, went on to play parts of 17 seasons with the Calgary Flames before getting to the call to the hall as part of the 2020 class.
Iginla is a graduate of Kelowna's RINK Hockey Academy, having spent the 2021-2022 season there.
The six-foot, 186-pound forward also suited up for the Boston Jr. Eagles in Massachusetts, before solidifying his first-round draft stock in the WHL.
Iginla is the first Rocket to be selected in the first round of the NHL Draft since Lassi Thomson was taken by Ottawa in 2019.
