It’s all but assured that Tij Iginla will hear his name called during the first round of the 2024 NHL entry draft.
He continued his climb up the draft rankings today as NHL Central Scouting released its final rankings ahead of the draft in Las Vegas on June 28-29.
The Rockets leading goal scorer, who scored 47 times in the regular season and has added eight more in as many playoff games, is ranked ninth among North American skaters.
That’s a slight improvement over his ranking of 11th mid-season, and a large jump from when he was considered a ‘B’ prospect on NHL Central Scouting’s pre-season list.
Iginla isn’t the only Rocket who is expecting to be selected at the draft in late June, as Hiroki Gojsic finished the season ranked as a 63rd best North American skater.
He started the season as a ‘C’ prospect, according to NHL Central Scouting, and has jumped significantly from his ranking of 94th at the midway mark of the season.
It’s not just the Rockets who are represented on today’s final list, as there are a trio of West Kelowna Warriors that scouts are watching ahead of this summer’s draft.
Current players Jack Pridham and Cal Hughes are ranked 65th and 99th respectively among North American skaters, which pegs them both as potential mid-round picks alongside Gojsic.
Further down the list is Jack Sadowski, a West Kelowna commit who will join the Warriors in the fall, who may garner a late-round selection as the 215th-ranked North American skater.
To learn more about NHL Central Scouting’s process and view the final rankings ahead of the 2024 NHL entry draft, click this link.
If you get value from KelownaNow and believe local independent media is important to our community we ask that you please consider subscribing to our daily newsletter.
If you appreciate what we do, we ask that you consider supporting our local independent news platform.
