JP Hurlbert has a very interesting story. He is one of the case studies that people will point out as someone who is getting new opportunities in the new landscape for NHL prospects that has been created because of the NCAA-CHL agreement.
Now that prospects can play in both the CHL and the NCAA — since before a couple years ago, a prospect had to choose just one path since the NCAA deemed the CHL as “playing professional” because of the little allowance players were given — we’re seeing more and more Canadian prospects head down to the United States and lace up. We just saw it with Porter Martone and how well he did playing college hockey.
But it also benefits players going the other way.
Hurlbert is one of those players. The American winger, born and raised in Texas of all places, worked his way up to play in the U.S. National Team Development Program for their Under-17 squad. But instead of staying in there and then going forward with college, like so many other players have in the past, he decided to take the trip up north and lace up for the WHL’s Kamloops Blazers, to get a little bit more attention as a top prospect.
He would not have been able to do this just a couple years ago, but now the Allen, Texas native was able to play in the WHL and get what he needed to get from it.
But how does it translate? And how did it affect his draft stock and his development? Well, it is questionable.
Pre-draft rankings
Ranked #12 by NHL Central Scouting (NA Skaters)
Ranked #30 by Elite Prospects
Ranked #43 by The Athletic (Scott Wheeler)
Ranked #17 by Sportsnet (Jason Bukala)
Ranked #21 by Daily Faceoff
Statistics
What’s there to like?
When it comes to Hurlbert, there’s a lot of flash. That’s maybe the simplest way to put it. He’s a creator in the offensive zone that can make his teammates better and be capable of finishing on more chances and we saw that all throughout his time in Kamloops.
Hurlbert was crowned the WHL’s Rookie of the Year for leading his own Blazers team in scoring as a first-time player with 97 points in 68 games, and then finishing fourth in league scoring — just under the Ruck twins and Dallas Stars prospect Cameron Schmidt. His 1.43 points per game ranked 10th in the WHL and only those pesky Ruck twins and massively undersized defenseman Jonas Woo, were the draft-eligible skaters who finished above him.
The production is clearly there, and the highlights are there too.
Hurlbert is clearly a dynamic player. What he can do with the puck, when given the space to do so, has proved to be very successful in junior hockey. He’s lights-out on the power play and can clearly display some skill with the puck — there’s the soft skill there that so many current NHLers probably wish they had.
And we can’t forget about the biggest attribute to his entire game: His shot. Hurlbert can rifle the puck in any way from anywhere in the offensive zone and has proven to find success in scoring a whole lot of goals in the WHL. Whether it’s a one-timer from the faceoff dot, or a snipe from the halfwall, or a forehand-backhand deke right in the slot to put it over the goalie’s shoulder; Hurlbert can do a whole lot of things with the puck that end up in the back of the net.
But there are some general concerns.
What’s not to like?
Sure, Hurlbert can dish the puck and shoot it and do a whole lot else with it in the offensive zone, but there are genuine concerns about his projectability to the NHL and if he’s even a prospect worth paying that much attention to.
He profiles as the prototypical player that can reach his highest when the game is slowed down to his liking. His skating is below where you want to see from an offensive player, and he’s not physical at all. So, he’s most perfectly suited on the power play in more stationary positions, or moving around the ice with his team in possession of the puck and if he is handed more space.
It may be a personal bias of just wanting the prospects to give a little bit more than that and to have a higher work ethic in all areas of the ice, but Hurlbert just screams someone who is not able to make it into the NHL in any tangible way. Maybe his peak is being a middle-six winger who has defensive holes but can contribute on the power play — and that’s if he adjusts to how fast NHL teams will target him and how aggressive they can be defensively.
He is just a smaller winger that can be pushed around far too easily for my personal liking and even though he has a whole lot of puck skills and a solid shot, there are just so many holes in his game overall where he can be a negative impact player on the ice.
How would he fit in the Flyers’ system?
This is an interesting case to see what kind of player the Flyers really need in their prospect pool. Hurlbert, as we all just have laid out hopefully well enough, is not a big winger who is a tricky winger who can be solid offensively but has a lot of holes in his game. In our mind, he’s a boom-or-bust type of player and it feels that goes against some of what the Flyers want in their own system.
If we’re truly going for a swing, there are other players in the range who didn’t take full advantage of a weakened WHL to pop some numbers but don’t really have the physical tools to carry them. It generally feels like the Flyers don’t need a winger who can’t skate but also isn’t physical. It’s fine if they have problem doing one or the other — we have seen plenty of that — but if it’s both, it just screams someone who is going to peak in college and the Flyers don’t want any of that.
So, well, Hurlbert would be adding something the Flyers don’t have, but his uphill climb to the NHL might not be something they want to invest in.
Could the Flyers actually get him?
Hurlbert has been mocked and ranked in the Flyers’ range at 21st overall. He should be there for the taking unless some team really loves his high-end skill despite some of his warts of lighting up Canadian Juniors in a not very projectable way.
Could and should are different questions, but it is tough to see Hurlbert really being the Flyers’ choice considering the other prospects that could be available. More sturdy players like Ilia Morozov or Oliver Suvanto could also be available. Or European shutdown defenders like William Hakansson or Juho Piiparinen would also make sense in this spot and have a clearer path to the NHL.
So yeah, the Flyers could feasibly get him, but there are doubts that he is their choice.
What scouts are saying
“Always thinking about the next play, Hurlbert spots plays, adjusts to the lane to receive the puck, and instantly connects with a teammate. He uses lots of delays and changes of pace, opening access to the back layers of the rush. He deceives opponents to prolong passing windows, which he takes full advantage of with precise passes from either side of the blade.
That off-puck, play-building style directly powers Hurlbert’s biggest weapon: His shot. Name a shot, he has it: One-timers, catch-and-release wristers, cross-body shots, and more. All of them are powerful, and he has an expansive wheelhouse, tapping the rare pass he can’t one-time straight into his shooting pocket.
A lot of Hurlbert’s offence comes off flying the zone and camping at the blue line for stretch passes, either getting fast-breaks or dumping the puck for a teammate before getting open for a return pass. That style limits his ability to impact the game defensively and physically, and it’s evidently a translatability concern.”
–2026 Elite Prospect Draft Guide
“No CHL rookie was as lethal as Hurlbert, who recorded 42 goals and 97 points with Kamloops. He’s an exceptionally skilled forward who, at one point, was so far ahead in the WHL scoring race that nobody was in the same area code. The University of Michigan commit has a great one-touch shot that he routinely unleashes on the power play. He’s also an exceptionally smart puck-mover who has very little difficulty getting it where it needs to be against players his own age. My two pre-season concerns – his play away from the puck and his lack of high-end speed – remain issues. But overall, he’s a safe bet for the first round.”
–Steven Ellis, Daily Faceoff
“Hurlbert is a very skilled scoring winger. He’s very creative and dynamic as a puck handler and passer while also having a good shot. With the puck, he looks like an NHL player, but his effort level and speed are average, and he can be pushed to the outside too easily. If you see his best games, he looks like a clear middle-six NHL winger who will point and help a power play, but the holes in his game are a concern for the NHL level and could frustrate coaches.”
–Corey Pronman, The Athletic
Next up is large and in charge Russian center Ilia Morozov — who was famously the youngest player in college hockey this past season.
“Despite being the youngest player in college hockey, Morozov played with a maturity that made him very valuable to Miami this season. Standing tall at 6-foot-3 and over 200 pounds, he is an imposing pivot who commands the center of the ice. He managed to post highly respectable numbers while operating on a roster lacking high-end offensive firepower. He frequently threads confident passes through heavy traffic. While his ultimate offensive ceiling may not get you out of your seat, Morozov’s mature off-puck habits and projectable power-center profile make him a compelling prospect.”
–Steven Ellis, Daily Faceoff
