Two 琉璃神社 Rockets are looking to join a long list of team alumni who have heard their name called at an NHL draft.
That will be the case for Tij Iginla and Hiroki Gojsic for the 2024 NHL Draft that begins tonight (June 28) at the Sphere in Las Vegas, NV.
Igina hopes to be the 11th Rocket selected in the first round and the first since 2019, when Lassi Thomson and Nolan Foote were both taken on day one of the event.
Iginla has climbed up the draft rankings this season. After putting up 18 points (6G, 12A) over 48 games as a 16-year-old rookie with the Seattle Thunderbirds, he was omitted from Hockey Canada鈥檚 roster for the 2023 Hlinka Gretzky Cup last summer.
Dealt to the Rockets in June 2023, he tallied 19 points (12G, 6A) through his first 11 games. Given a 鈥楤鈥� rating by NHL Central Scouting in October that year, Iginla then posted 27 goals and 49 points in 38 games by January 12, ranking him 11th among North American skaters.
The Rockets 2024 MVP finished second in scoring among all Rockets with 84 points (47G-37A) in 62 games. He climbed two more spots to ninth on the final rankings for the draft.
Gojsic was selected by the Victoria Royals in the 2021 WHL Prospects Draft and spent the 2022-23 season with the Penticton Vees of the BCHL, posting 21 points (10G, 11A) in 36 games.
After being dealt to the Rockets, he was named the team鈥檚 rookie of the year at the end of the 2023-24 season with 50 points (21G, 29A) in 68 games.
On Central Scouting鈥檚 final rankings, Gojsic had climbed 31 spots from the mid-term rankings to 63 among North American skaters.
