LAS VEGAS -- Ryan Smith knew before it happened how big draft night would be for the Utah Hockey Club.
"It's the first time, the first moment," Utah's co-owner said before the start of the 2024 Upper Deck NHL Draft at Sphere in Las Vegas. "There's a kid who has worked his entire life to get to this moment and he gets to be the very first draft pick in the Utah franchise history. That's pretty incredible. That's something that no one else is ever going to be able to say. I've learned in life that so much is about the story you can tell, and that's a pretty cool story to tell."
Tij Iginla gets to tell the story. He will forever be known as the first pick for the NHL's newest team.
Smith and his wife, Ashley, stood on stage at Sphere and announced Iginla, the son of Hockey Hall of Famer Jarome Iginla, as the No. 6 pick in the draft to the Utah Hockey Club.
Iginla said he had "a little bit" of an inkling that Utah would take him, but that didn't matter in the moment. The emotions took over, a combination of a lifelong dream being realized and the realization that he, and only he, can lay claim to being the first pick by the Utah Hockey Club.
"It's a huge honor for sure," said Iginla, who had 84 points (47 goals, 37 assists) in 64 games for Kelowna of the Western Hockey League last season. "It would have been a surreal feeling to hear my name called by any team, but to be the first pick of a franchise is really cool."
It was three years ago when the Seattle Kraken made forward Matty Beniers their first draft pick, selecting him No. 2 in the 2021 NHL Draft.
Beniers, who announced Berkly Catton as the Kraken’s first-round pick at No. 8, said Iginla should feel special about being Utah's first pick because it is an honor and it still means a great deal to him.
"It's pretty cool to think that you will have cemented some kind of place in that team's history," Beniers said. "I don't want to say there's a little bit of pressure, but I think it's good, it's exciting and it's a cool thing to think about that you're the first one."
After picking Iginla, Utah made a move to get back in the first round so they could select Cole Beaudoin from Barrie of the Ontario Hockey League with the No. 24 pick.
"New franchise and second ever pick, it's incredible just to even think about that," Beaudoin said.
Utah traded three picks to the Colorado Avalanche to move up to No. 24, proving how much they valued Beaudoin. They sent the Avalanche picks No. 38 and 71 in this year's draft and a 2025 second-round pick that previously belonged to the New York Rangers.
"To me, his work ethic might change the culture of our organization, just how hard he plays the game," Utah general manager Bill Armstrong said.
Armstrong also put some pretty lofty expectations on Iginla.
"I told him when I met with him, I said, 'We've got a lot of 20 goal-scorers on our roster, we're looking for a 50-goal scorer. No pressure,' " Armstrong said. "We really love him, not only as a person but as a player. He has everything that we like."
Beyond Iginla and Beaudoin, this was a seminal moment for NHL hockey in Utah months before a game will even be played at Delta Center.
The draft is the first NHL event since the establishment of the franchise.
The NHL Board of Governors approved the establishment of the Utah Hockey Club on April 18, and the Smiths officially closed on the agreement with the NHL to bring hockey to Utah on June 13.
"This is a big day for the state of Utah, it's a big day for this new franchise," Smith said. "It's a milestone moment for all of us, for our state and I think for hockey. We're excited. We couldn't be more thrilled this is happening, but I will tell you, if you would have told me in February that we'd be sitting here right now here at the draft, I would have said you're crazy. But this is what we do. We know the state is ready, we're ready and today is a big moment and a milestone for everything we've been working on."
Armstrong said it was fitting that the Smiths were on stage with him to make the announcement that Iginla was the No. 6 pick considering how hard they worked to bring an NHL team to Utah.
"What better way to usher in that era with them making the pick at the Sphere," Armstrong said. "It's one of the greatest places I've ever seen to hold a draft. It's an amazing place. It was an amazing first day for us. We targeted some guys and we had good fortune. They were there."
And now they're part of history, Iginla and Beaudoin sharing the unique distinction of being the first two first-round picks by the still yet to be nicknamed NHL team in Utah.
"It is pretty cool symmetry," Beniers said. "That is where you're starting in your pro career and obviously with the franchise or a new expansion team, that's their start too."
