Utah Mammoth’s top prospect, Tij Iginla, practiced without any limitations during the Mammoth’s development camp earlier this month.
After having his 2024-25 season cut short due to a hip injury, Iginla looks to be almost fully healed and ready to earn his spot on the Mammoth’s main roster. The 18-year-old had successful double hip surgery in December after registering 14 goals and 18 assists for 32 points in 21 games for the WHL’s Kelowna Rockets.
The Utah Mammoth drafted Iginla with the 6th overall selection in the first round of the 2024 NHL Entry Draft. He registered 47 goals and 37 assists for 84 points in 64 games during his draft year. Now that he’s close to being fully healthy, the Mammoth will give Iginla every opportunity to make the main roster during training camp and pre-season.
Iginla is not a lock to make the main roster, but I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s allowed to play the nine-game limit before being sent back to the Kelowna Rockets in WHL for one more season. Those nine games would give the Mammoth coaching staff a good opportunity to see how close Iginla is to being NHL-ready. Iginla’s future is bright, but there’s no point in rushing him if he’s not ready. Especially after the type of injury he sustained.
What to Expect from Tij Iginla in 2025-26
The Mammoth can expect big things from Iginla in the WHL if he stays healthy. He should be one of the more dominating players in the WHL, given his skill set. If he returns to Kelowna, expect Iginla to post some impressive numbers. Registering 50 goals and 90 points should be a realistic expectation.
Now, there is still a lot of summer left, and plenty of time for the Mammoth to make trades or other roster moves, but according to puckpedia.com, the Mammoth have 12 forwards signed for the 2025-26 season. Making the main roster won’t be easy for Iginla, but he intends to make Mammoth GM Bill Armstrong’s decision to keep him or send him down a tough one.
After his showing in development camp, Armstrong had this to say about Iginla: “Now that you see him out there, and you see him moving, and he’s back to normal, you get really excited.” Now we wait to see if the excitement lasts and can transition into a main roster spot for the 2025-26 season.
Tij should get some games with Utah, but his best developement would be to play for the Rockets. Kelowna is hosting the Memorial Cup and Iginla could be a big part of that. He should captain the team and put up huge numbers this year. He missed most of last year, so another year in junior would do well for his future. One only has to look at Draisaitl’s last year with the Rockets.
I’m sure Hamilton has been talking with Army.