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Growing up as the child of a professional athlete has advantages and disadvantages.

That child will grow up getting a first-hand and up-close look at what it’s really like to be a pro athlete and the demands that come with it. On the other hand — as the son of a former Montreal pro athlete once told me — that child is often known simply as “the son of so-and-so” instead of by his or her own name.

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Tij Iginla is the son of Hockey Hall of Famer Jarome Iginla and he can certainly relate to that. He’s used to being called “the son of Jarome Iginla” and that will only increase leading up to the first round of the NHL Draft on June 28. Iginla is ranked ninth among North American skaters by NHL Central Scouting. Bob McKenzie, the highly respected TSN draft guru, ranked Iginla 10th on his list of top prospects heading into the draft.

Iginla’s pedigree might have him picked higher than that and he might even be appealing to the Canadiens with the No. 5 overall pick, depending on which forwards are selected before Montreal takes to the podium at the Las Vegas Sphere. Iginla’s dad played 20 seasons in the NHL, winning one Art Ross Trophy as the league’s leading scorer, two Rocket Richard Trophies as the leading goal-scorer and the Mark Messier Leadership Award. He played in 1,219 career games, scoring 525 goals and adding 570 assists for 1,095 points.

“Growing up, I saw my dad play in the NHL so it was always my dream to get there as well,” Iginla told reporters in Buffalo at last weekend’s NHL Scouting Combine. “It always felt so far away. As a kid on the outdoor rink, thinking when’s my draft year? 2024. It seemed so far away, but now it’s come pretty quick.”

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Iginla, who can play centre or wing, was measured at 6-foot and 191 pounds at the combine. His dad was 6-foot-1 and 210 pounds in his playing days. In 64 games last season with the WHL’s Kelowna Rockets, Iginla had 47-37-84 totals.

“I think I’ve had a lot of advantages that other kids haven’t,” Iginla told reporters at the combine. “So I think I’ve been very blessed to have my dad and be in a family that’s so into hockey. It’s kind of the main focus in our house. And then to have my siblings as well … they’re really into it, too.”

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Iginla’s 15-year-old brother, Joe, had 19-30-49 totals in 29 games this season as a forward with the RINK Hockey Academy U-18 team in Kelowna, B.C., where the family lives. Joe also played five games with the WHL’s Edmonton Oil Kings, posting 3-2-5 totals. Iginla’s 19-year-old sister, Jade, had 16-11-27 totals in 32 games this season with Brown University.

It will be interesting to see how much Iginla’s pedigree comes into play with teams at the NHL Draft.

Pedigree probably played a role in the Canadiens’ decision to take Éric Chouinard with the 16th overall pick at the 1998 NHL Draft after he had 41-42-83 totals in 68 games with the QMJHL’s Quebec Remparts the previous season. Chouinard’s father, Guy, played 10 seasons in the NHL and scored 50 goals for the Atlanta Flames in 1978-79.

”He’s better than I was at the same stage,” Chouinard’s father said after the draft. “For starters, he’s bigger and stronger and I think he can skate backwards faster than I skated forwards.”

That pick didn’t work out well for the Canadiens. Chouinard only played 13 games with the Canadiens and his NHL career lasted four years with 11-11-22 totals in 90 games. Simon Gagné, who was Chouinard’s teammate with the Remparts, was selected 22nd overall by the Philadelphia Flyers at the 1998 draft and went on to play 14 seasons in the NHL, scoring 291 goals.

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The Canadiens decided to overlook pedigree at the 2018 draft when they took Jesperi Kotkaniemi with the No. 3 overall pick instead of Brady Tkachuk, who went to the Ottawa Senators at No. 4. Tkachuk is the son of Keith, who scored 538 goals during his 18 seasons in the NHL, and the younger brother of Matthew, who is now looking to win his first Stanley Cup with the Florida Panthers.

Brady has scored 162 goals during his six NHL seasons and is now captain of the Senators. Kotkaniemi has 64 goals in his six NHL seasons and is now a fourth-line winger with the Carolina Hurricanes.

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Iginla is getting a lot of extra attention as the son of a Hall of Famer, which also comes with added pressure, but he won’t complain. Not every kid growing up gets to meet superstar Sidney Crosby outside the Penguins locker room before a game in Pittsburgh or have Nathan MacKinnon come over to his house for Thanksgiving dinner because he was his father’s teammate with the Colorado Avalanche.

“That was obviously super cool to see a guy like that,” Iginla said. “I think I was still at the kiddie table then. … All those memories I’m super grateful for.

“For me, having my dad and my family, the pros heavily outweigh the cons.”

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