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Edmonton Oil Kings select Joe Iginla, son of obscure former NHLer, in WHL Bantam Draft

Photo credit: Candice Ward/USA Today Sports

By Ryan Pike

May 11, 2023, 14:00 EDTUpdated: Jun 2, 2023, 13:57 EDT

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The 2023 edition of the Western Hockey League’s annual bantam draft unfolded on Thursday morning, with the WHL’s member clubs restocking their cupboards with 2008-born prospects. Among those selected was forward Joe Iginla, of the Rink Hockey Academy, taken at 12th overall by the Edmonton Oil Kings just one pick after the Calgary Hitmen.

Joe Iginla is, of course, the youngest son of long-time Calgary Flames forward (and Hockey Hall of Fame inductee) Jarome Iginla.

Edmonton Oil Kings

@EdmOilKings

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With the 12th overall pick in the 2023 WHL Prospects Draft, the #OilKings have selected F Joe Iginla from Rink HA Kelowna U15 Prep. Welcome to the #OilKings family, Joe! #representEOK

4:55 PM · May 11, 2023

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The Hitmen selected centre Noah Kosick at 11th overall, which allowed Iginla to slide to Edmonton at 12th. The son of longtime European pro Mark Kosick, the younger Kosick had 45 points in 32 games in the CSSHL U18 league for Pacific Coast Academy. Iginla had 65 points in 27 games in the CSSHL U15 league for Rink Hockey Academy.

Here’s a bit of context, courtesy friend of the site Derek Neumeier:

Derek Neumeier

@Derek_N_NHL

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This is so interesting The Calgary Hitmen had a chance to draft Jarome Iginla's son, Joe, but didn't. Joe then went to the Edmonton Oil Kings 12th However, Calgary instead selected Kosick, arguably a Top 5 talent from this draft, but he might go to the NCAA instead Storylines!

Western Hockey League

@TheWHL

With the 11th overall pick in the 2023 WHL Prospects Draft, the @WHLHitmen select Noah Kosick from the Pacific Coast Hockey Academy U18 Prep. #WHLDraft

Watch on X

5:18 PM · May 11, 2023

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Joe’s older brother, Tij, was selected by the Seattle Thunderbirds at ninth overall in the 2012 Bantam Draft. Joe and Tij’s older sister, Jade, just finished her freshman season at Brown University.

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So, Joe Iginla is flat-out good. Very good in lower levels, projects as a very good WHLer. That’s why he was a first-rounder. Kosick has a bunch of potentially-mitigating factors involved in his development – among them his size (listed at 5’4″) and the chance he still might go to the NCAA – but the Hitmen opted for a home-run swing type of pick with him because he’s been excellent offensively at lower levels of hockey.

Here’s Alan Caldwell, a fountain of WHL information, with even more context:

Alan Caldwell

@smallatlarge

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Kosick put up almost 1.5 points per game playing U18 this year....so a 14 year old playing against mostly 16 and 17 year olds. Last I heard though he was not committed to the WHL yet, was still considering the NCAA.

Calgary Hitmen

@WHLHitmen

With the 11th pick in the 2023 WHL Prospects Draft, the Hitmen select centre Noah Kosick from the Pacific Coast Hockey Academy U18 Prep Welcome to the club, Noah!

5:01 PM · May 11, 2023

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In other words: yeah, the Hitmen are gambling that Kosick (a) comes to the WHL instead of the NCAA and (b) becomes anything close to what he’s been at lower levels. Iginla is likely a “safer” pick and has the name recognition factor as well. It’s a gamble. But it’s also a draft featuring players who are 14 and 15 years of age: every pick is a gamble when you’re trying to project a young person’s on and off-ice development.

Best of luck to Joe Iginla with the Oil Kings. We will watch his WHL career with great interest.