ARLINGTON, Va. — Tij Iginla is eager to get to work when the Utah Mammoth open rookie camp Wednesday and training camp next week.

The 19-year-old forward sat out most of training camp last season after Utah selected him with the No. 6 pick in the 2024 NHL Draft because of pain in his hips that eventually led to having season-ending surgery on each of them. Iginla had yet to be cleared for contact at development camp in late June but said he’ll be ready to be a full participant for rookie camp.

“I’m all clear, feeling really good,” Iginla said at the NHLPA Rookie Showcase last week. “I’m just super pumped to be back feeling healthy and strong and can’t wait to get the season started.”

Iginla, the son of Hockey Hall of Fame forward Jarome Iginla, had 32 points (14 goals, 18 assists) in 21 games with Kelowna of the Western Hockey League last season before undergoing arthroscopic surgery on his right hip Dec. 4. He had the same procedure on his left hip Jan. 20 following a six-week break to allow the right hip to begin healing.

Iginla won’t have to wait much longer to get back into competition. The Mammoth will play in the 2025 Rookie Showcase tournament in Highlands Ranch, Colorado, against the Colorado Avalanche on Friday and the Vegas Golden Knights on Saturday.

“So excited,” Iginla said. “After all that time off away from the game, just itching to get back into games.”

In a way, Iginla feels like he’s entering his first training camp again because of how much his hip pain limited him a year ago. The pain was caused by abnormal bony bumps on the heads of his femurs known as cam lesions, resulting in a friction from the bones in the hip socket not fitting together properly, a condition known as Femoroacetabular Impingement (FAI).

“It’s basically just from overuse over the years,” Iginla said. “Hockey is hard on the hips. That side-pushing motion isn’t natural to the human body, so just years of doing that through puberty when your body is growing and stuff just led to bone buildup, ‘cams’ they’re called, on the end of your femur bone.

“I didn’t know there was anything wrong for all those years, but then it kind of went fast on me after the draft into the summer and I had to get [the surgeries] done.”

Iginla tried to make the most of his downtime while rehabbing from the surgeries by watching a lot of hockey, including Utah’s games, studying video and working on the cognitive side of his game with virtual reality programs. Mammoth director of player development Lee Stempniak recalled at development camp how Iginla called during last season to ask questions about the team’s systems so he would be better prepared for training camp this season.

“The passion he has for the game is awesome, and for us it was channeling that into doing things, there were little projects for him, and helping him because you felt his frustration being injured and not being able to play,” Stempniak said. “He’s obsessed with hockey in the best way possible, and for me he used the mental side and the mental reps in watching games and video and all that stuff and made strides in his development even when he wasn’t playing.”

Iginla said he relied on his father, who had 1,300 points (625 goals, 675 assists) in 1,554 games during 20 NHL seasons (1996-2017) with the Calgary Flames, Pittsburgh Penguins, Boston Bruins, Avalanche and Los Angeles Kings, and the rest of his family to help him get through the long layoff.

“They were there for me to kind of lean on and just spending time with them, my grandparents, my brother [Joe], they helped me a ton,” he said. “Just being around them and spending time with them was huge for me. … You’re in your head a little bit just thinking about how you’re going to get through it and just taking it one day at a time.

“I feel like there’s kind of a resilience that type of situation brings out of you, so I think in the long run it will be good for me.”

With the pain in his hips gone, Iginla is approaching training camp with the intention of winning a spot on the Mammoth’s opening night roster and making his NHL debut this season.

Utah plays its season opener at Colorado on Oct. 9.

“The NHL is the ultimate goal at this point,” Iginla said. “So I want to make the team and kind of prove myself again coming off of the surgeries.”

Iginla acknowledged that he feels a little pressure to live up to being the first player drafted by Utah, which was established as a new NHL franchise April 18, 2024, after the Smith Entertainment Group purchased the hockey assets of the Arizona Coyotes. As the son of a Hockey Hall of Famer, he’s learned not to let expectations become a burden.

“I’ve dealt with some of that over the years,” he said. “I just say it’s been great having [my father] and working with him. Obviously there might be a little bit more expectations and pressure, but I enjoy that.

“I think pressure is a privilege. I like that saying.”