Allen native JP Hurlbert projected as first-round NHL draft pick
JP Hurlbert could become the first native Texan taken in the NHL first round since 2013, a milestone built at the Dallas Stars’ Valley Ranch rink.
Allen native JP Hurlbert is projected to go in the first round of the 2026 NHL Draft in Buffalo, a step that would make him the first native Texan selected in the opening round since Seth Jones in 2013. For North Texas hockey, the 18-year-old’s rise is more than a draft story, it is a test of whether the region has finally built a pipeline capable of producing elite players.
Hurlbert learned the game at the Children’s Health StarCenter in Valley Ranch, where he has trained since he was 4 years old. The rink, in Irving, has become a kind of trophy case for Texas hockey, with banners honoring NHL players who came through the same system, including Arlington native Seth Jones and Plano native Blake Coleman. Hurlbert’s name already has a place waiting if he becomes a first-round pick.
That route has been unusual for a player from Allen, where hockey is still far from the dominant winter sport. Hurlbert moved through the U.S. National Team Development Program before joining the Kamloops Blazers of the Western Hockey League, then continued his climb with a University of Michigan commitment already in hand. His production has matched the scouting buzz. In 2024-25, he played 56 games for the NTDP U-17 team and finished with 19 goals, 18 assists and 37 points.
His breakout came with Kamloops. In 68 WHL games, Hurlbert posted 97 points, with 42 goals and 55 assists, numbers that put him among the league’s top rookies and turned him into a projected first-round selection. For a player from Allen, that kind of production puts him in a different category from the usual Texas hockey success story. It points to a development system that now reaches from local rinks to national teams and major junior hockey.
Jones, who was born in Arlington and went fourth overall to the Nashville Predators in the 2013 NHL Draft, remains the last native Texan to go in the first round. If Hurlbert hears his name called in Buffalo, he would extend a Texas lineage that has been built at Valley Ranch, one banner and one player at a time.
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