Flyers draft target Iginla has impressive NHL pedigree and ‘very high ceiling’ originally appeared in NBC Sports Philadelphia
Despite making it through most of the 2023-24 season, the Flyers still have a rebuilding mentality. The club’s decision-makers know there is a need for more talent and that the early draft remains the best way to acquire it.
“The majority of it still needs to be done through our young guys, especially through the draft,” general manager Danny Briere said in April.
The Flyers will have a good opportunity to boost their future when the 2024 NHL Draft arrives June 28-29 at the Sphere in Las Vegas. The first round is Friday at 7pm ET, while rounds 2 through 7 take place on Saturday starting at 11:30am ET.
Like last summer, the Flyers have 10 picks, including two first-round picks. Barring a negotiation, they will make their best overall selection at 12th position. Briere believes the Flyers “can get a very talented player” at that position.
In the first round of the 2023 draft, the Flyers attacked Matvei Michkov in the 7th position It is grabbed Oliver Bonk in 22nd place. They should also have two 2025 first-round picks.
Ahead of the 2024 draft, we’re breaking down the targets for the Flyers at No. 12.
Next:
Tij Iginla
Position: Winger/center
Height: 6 feet
Weight: 191
Photos: Left
Team: Kelowna Rockets
Scouting Report
Brimming with confidence and knowledge, Iginla climbed many 2024 NHL Draft rankings this season, scoring 84 points (47 goals, 37 assists) in 64 regular season games for the WHL’s Rockets.
His 47 goals were tied for sixth in the WHL, while his nine playoff scorers led Kelowna, who finished with 15 points in 11 games. Including the postseason, he recorded 11 multi-goal games with three hat tricks.
And he did all this at 17 years old. Iginla, who won’t turn 18 until August, has some Hockey Hall of Fame bloodlines. His father, Jarome Iginla, is enshrined in Toronto after playing 1,554 games in the NHL and scoring 1,300 points (625 goals, 675 assists).
Young Iginla plays as a winger like his father, but can also play as a center. He is a strong skater with puck talent and could project more as a winger at the professional level.
“I like to use the term dynamic because he has the skill and speed to make things happen,” Dan Marr, vice president of NHL Central Scouting, said two weeks ago in a phone interview with NBC Sports Philadelphia. “And it has continually evolved and improved throughout the year. He has a quick burst in the middle to break through the defense, he gets around players to get to the net, he is quick from the corners to the front of the net. Very evasive, difficult to verify.”
At the 2024 IIHF Under-18 World Junior Championship, Iginla helped lead Team Canada to the gold medal with 12 points (six goals, six assists) in seven games.
He is the ninth ranked North American skater by NHL Central Scouting and considered the fourth best prospect in the draft by TSN Craig Button. EliteProspects. with has Iginla in sixth place overall, while TSN’s Bob McKenzie put it in 10th place.
“When he has the puck, he’s very tenacious, he really wants to have the puck,” Marr said. “If you give him an opportunity to score, he knows how to open up, he has a good release, a good shot and he is a good finisher. This is a kid who has a very high ceiling and is going to be a very productive offensive player.”
Adjustment with leaflets
If Iginla fell out of the top 10, the Flyers would have strong interest. There’s a lot to like about his ability to score and win puck battles at just 17 years old.
Of course, the Flyers know his father well. Briere was a teammate of Iginla in 2014-15 on the Avalanche, president of hockey operations Keith Jones played against him and John Tortorella coached against him in the 2004 Stanley Cup Final.
During their four-year playoff drought, the Flyers ranked 29th in goals per game at 2.72. They needed more players who could beat the goalkeeper without help. Getting Iginla into the picture with Michkov and Tyson Foerster would give the Flyers a nice boost for the future. Michkov is 19 and the Flyers’ top prospect, while the 22-year-old Foerster has arguably the organization’s best prospect and is coming off a 20-goal rookie NHL season.
Iginla isn’t the flashiest player and will need to work on the defensive side of his game, but he has a lot of translatable strengths. A rebuilding team like the Flyers would welcome these strengths.
More targets
• Flyers should like Helenius, ‘one of the draft’s biggest talents’
• Flyer draft target Catton has ‘ingredients’ to be top-tier center
• Flyers could have shot Yakemchuk, a defender with ‘rare combination’
Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts:
Apple Podcasts | Youtube Music | Spotify | Seamstress | Art19 | RSS | Watch on youtube
