Tij Iginla leads the crop of top 2024 draft prospects with NHL bloodlines

Mike Gould
Mike Gould
Tij Iginla
Credit: Photo from Jeremy Champagne

Matthew and Brady Tkachuk. Jakob Chychrun. Nick and Marcus Foligno. Max Domi. The Hughes brothers. In these cases and more, hockey talent has developed a track record of being genetic.

Yes, not every child of a former hockey star goes on to become a top player in their own right. But every year, there are multiple players available in the NHL Draft who come from impressive hockey lineages. It’s an established trend.

This year is no different. We’ve identified five players expected to go in the first half of the upcoming 2024 NHL Draft whose parents spent significant time at the top level of the game.

This list does not include players whose brothers are NHL prospects, like Adam Jiricek (David), Zeev Buium (Shai), and Cole Hutson (Lane). That’s an interesting thought experiment in its own right — one for another time.

For our purposes, we’ll start out west with the middle child of one of the greatest players of the last 25 years.

Tij Iginla

Tij Iginla won’t just go in the first round of the upcoming draft. He stands a real chance of being selected in the top 10. Jarome’s son has formed an incredible partnership with Capitals prospect Andrew Cristall on the WHL’s Kelowna Rockets this season, leading to Iginla being regarded as a consensus first-round pick — often ranked in the top 16.

It didn’t really work for Tij with the Seattle Thunderbirds last year. The former No. 9 overall pick in the WHL Bantam Draft struggled to lock down a consistent lineup spot as a 16-year-old but was reasonably productive in spot duty. But after being sent closer to home in the BC interior, Iginla started really finding his groove. The 6′ forward has 34 goals and 60 points in 45 games with the Rockets this season. He’s a terrific shooter who touches all aspects of the game with his hockey IQ and physical gifts. And Tij isn’t even the only Iginla rising the ranks: Jade, his older sister, is Brown University’s top scorer; Joe, his younger brother, is a 2026-eligible prospect who has already skated in two WHL games with the Edmonton Oil Kings.

What a family. If Tij is even half as good as his old man, he’ll be an incredible player.

Ryder Ritchie

There have been a lot of Ritchies in the NHL in recent years; Ryder is related to Byron, not Brett, Nick, or Calum. Unlike Brett and Nick Ritchie, both of whom were prototypical power forwards when they played in the NHL, Ryder’s dad Byron was more of a finesse player who spent the better part of a decade as a bottom-six center with the Vancouver Canucks, Calgary Flames, Florida Panthers, and Carolina Hurricanes.

Ryder Ritchie is a former teammate of Tij Iginla’s at the Kelowna RINK Academy. Their paths diverged after that, with Ritchie joining the Prince Albert Raiders and immediately establishing himself as one of their top players at age 16 — a slick, versatile forward with a ton of raw skill. His production hasn’t quite increased year-over-year to the extent draft analysts might’ve hoped but he’s still widely expected to go in the back half of the first round.

Max Plante

The son of longtime Buffalo Sabres forward Derek Plante, Max looks to have a bit more offensive upside than his dad. The Minnesota-born forward has become one of the top-scoring forwards with the U.S. National Team Development Program over the last two seasons while also cementing himself as a prospective second-round pick on some ranking lists.

Plante is a terrific playmaker who already has 38 assists in just 43 games with the U.S. Juniors this season. That passing ability is something his dad also had in spades — he put together three 50-point seasons with the Sabres in the mid-1990s — and he’s also slated to attend his father’s alma mater, the University of Minnesota-Duluth. Plante definitely isn’t at the same level as his USNTDP teammate Cole Eiserman but is a shoo-in to be drafted by somebody.

Lukas Fischer

Jiri Fischer should’ve been an NHL player for a long time. He showed a ton of promise as a young defenseman with the Detroit Red Wings before suffering a life-threatening cardiac event on the bench during a game in 2005. Fischer never returned to the lineup after that and ultimately announced his retirement in 2007, at age 26. He subsequently rejoined the Red Wings organization as its director of player development and remains with the team to this day.

The younger Fischer is a dual citizen of Czechia and the U.S., having been born in Michigan shortly after the end of Jiri’s playing career. Lukas Fischer is a 6’4″ defenseman with the OHL’s Sarnia Sting who has 23 points in 49 games this season. He’s generally regarded as a potential second- or third-round pick and a player who could develop into a shutdown bottom-four defender in time.

Aatos Koivu

How much could you learn about hockey while sitting at a dinner table with Saku and Mikko Koivu? It’s safe to say Aatos Koivu gathered quite a bit away from his father and uncle over his formative years — even just from watching them play. Saku’s son has come up through the TPS system in Finland over the last few seasons and appeared in his first four Liiga games this year.

But it’s in the Finnish U20 league where Koivu’s upside has truly shone through this season. He’s third on TPS’ U20 squad with 29 points (15 goals, 14 assists) in 23 games, which also puts him third among 2006-born players in the entire league in points per game. Koivu is a 6′ center who has only looked better at higher levels in the Finnish ranks. It’s only a matter of time before he starts to make an impact in the Liiga (and, eventually, in North America).

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