In a season filled with highlight reel goals, sensational comebacks, draft hype and showcase events, JP Hurlbert’s first WHL game is still the moment he holds closest to his heart.<\/p>\n
A season-opening hat trick set the tone for the Allen, Texas product’s monster campaign- and even saw him earn a new nickname.<\/p>\n
“On the third goal, he (the announcer) just goes over the broadcast and calls it the Texas Tornado in front of the whole building, and it just kind of stuck,” Hurlbert smiled.<\/p>\n
As he prepares to take the next step at the NHL Draft, the Texas Tornado looks back on his WHL whirlwind fondly.<\/p>\n
The 6-foot, 190-pound forward piled up 42 goals (including four game-winners, three hat tricks and nine multi-goal games) and 55 assists for 97 points in 68 games, ranking fourth among all WHL skaters in points and goals.<\/p>\n
The Blazers alternate captain was crowned the winner of the Jim Piggott Memorial Trophy as the WHL Rookie of the Year and was also named a finalist for Player of the Year, while helping Kamloops lock up a playoff berth.<\/p>\n
“His instincts are exceptional,” Blazers General Manager and Head Coach Shaun Clouston said. “His offensive instincts, his anticipation, timing on breakouts, on transition, on attacks.<\/p>\n
I think he took some pretty big steps with the structure of the game. I think a lot of high-end players need a little bit more structure. We’ve been really fortunate here because we can talk about (Emmitt) Finnie, we can talk about (Fraser) Minten, and we can talk about (Connor) Zary and (Logan) Stankoven, but I think all those guys, they embraced that element, and I think to get to the highest level, you need to have some of that. There’s very few players left, if any, that can just kind of go out there and do whatever they want and free-wheel, because it is a team game. I think JP got better in the D-zone, took a step there, and then there’s the attack part of the game that he was really, really good at.”<\/p>\n
Beyond regular-season play, Hurlbert was named an alternate captain for the CHL at the 2025 CHL USA Prospects Challenge, where he lit the lamp once.<\/p>\n
He also wore an ‘A’ for Team West at the 2026 WHL Prospects Game, where he tallied on the powerplay to force overtime, where the East ultimately prevailed on a Daxon Rudolph strike.<\/p>\n
There was growth off the ice, too, as Hurlbert forged new friendships through road trips, mini stick battles, and even weekly horror movie showings with his billet brother, Ty Bonkowski.<\/p>\n
His ebullient personality was a big part of why he was named an alternate captain for the Blazers before even suiting up for his first game.<\/p>\n
Keep in mind, this is all happening while he helped pave a new path for top American players looking to the WHL with recent college eligibility changes.<\/p>\n
“Playing a lot more games and playing a pro schedule has been a huge impact,” Hurlbert said of the switch to the Dub. “Getting to learn how to deal with that, the travel aspect, and just the game itself. The WHL is so fast, so high-paced, so much talent, so learning how to use your strengths to your advantage, and you know, use it to outsmart some people… You just look at recent drafts and it’s the best place in the world to go to the NHL each night you’re facing a new challenge, a new task, you know, every team’s different, and I think it just develops you.”<\/p>\n
Hurlbert is ranked 12th among all North American skaters by NHL Central Scouting in the agency’s final rankings ahead of the 2026 NHL Draft.<\/p>\n
He also attended the 2026 NHL Combine to participate in fitness testing (he gained roughly 10 pounds from training camp in September to the June combine) and meet with NHL teams.<\/p>\n
While more Texans have started to make a name for themselves at the NHL level in recent years, it’s still fairly untrodden territory.<\/p>\n
Dating back to 1986, when full NHL Draft state breakdowns are last available, 30 Texas-born players have heard their names called at the draft.<\/p>\n
Twelve of them (including Portland Winterhawks graduates Seth and Caleb Jones and Kelowna Rockets defender Tyler Myers) have gone on to play in the NHL.<\/p>\n
Hurlbert hopes he’ll be the next to join their ranks.<\/p>\n
“You really want to be walking across that stage representing an NHL club,” Hurlbert said. “It’d mean the world. It’s been a lifelong dream, and you know, for it to be so close, it’s kind of scary, but so exciting at the same time. I just think about all the people who have helped me along the way- my family, my advisors, my teammates. So I think it’ll be a pretty special moment, personally, especially since it’s not as common for Texans to get selected in the NHL draft.”<\/p>\n
Hurlbert has also planned to pay tribute to the Blazers and other impactful parts of his hockey journey with his draft day suit.<\/p>\n
“I really do love Kamloops,” Hurlbert added. “I think it’s such a beautiful spot, such a great team and staff, and it’s just like one big family.”<\/p>\n
Round 1 of the 2026 NHL Draft begins on Friday, June 26, 2026, at 5:00 p.m. MT, with Rounds 2-7 to follow on June 27.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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Saskatoon, Sask <\/strong>\u2013 The Saskatoon Blades are pleased to announce the signing of 2011-born forward Teagan Dernisky to a Western Hockey League (WHL) Scholarship and Development Agreement. The 5-foot-7 winger was Saskatoon’s first selection in the 2026 WHL Prospects Draft at 15th overall in the first round.<\/p>\n “Teagan attacks the game every time he’s on the ice and inserts himself fully and willingly into the guts of the game in all areas,” said Blades director of scouting, Dan Tencer, “His speed and tenacity heighten the impact of his high skill level and offensive creativity, and through the season he demonstrated his ability to play in tandem with other elite players but also be the driver when tasked with carrying a line. We think he’s an ideal fit for how we like to play the game and fits with our already strong group of 2009 and 2010 prospects.”<\/p>\n The Delta, BC native led the U15 Canadian Sport School Hockey League (CSSHL) in scoring with 43 goals and 55 assists for 98 points in 30 games. Dernisky continued his scoring ways in three postseason games with a trio of goals and assists for six points. The 5-foot-7 speedster was an animal in tournament play during the 2025-26 season. In six games at the 2026 John Reid Memorial Tournament, the left-handed sniper scored five goals and six assists for 11 points. Dernisky dropped three goals and three assists in four games with Team Red at the 2026 BC U16 Cup.<\/p>\n The Blades would like to welcome the Dernisky family into the organization and community, and look forward to working with Teagan to help achieve his goals under the guidance of Dan DaSilva’s coaching staff.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Saskatoon, Sask \u2013 The Saskatoon Blades are pleased to announce the signing of 2011-born forward Teagan Dernisky to a Western Hockey League (WHL) Scholarship and Development Agreement. The 5-foot-7 winger was Saskatoon’s first selection in the 2026 WHL Prospects Draft at 15th overall in the first round. “Teagan attacks the game every time he’s on…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":130,"featured_media":268245,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"article","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1110],"tags":[{"term_id":2386,"name":"Teagan Dernisky","slug":"teagan-dernisky","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":2386,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":1,"filter":"raw","term_order":"2"},{"term_id":38,"name":"saskatoon blades","slug":"saskatoon-blades","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":300,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":1129,"filter":"raw","term_order":"1952"},{"term_id":57,"name":"WHL Draft","slug":"whl-draft","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":907,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":149,"filter":"raw","term_order":"2118"}],"class_list":["post-268243","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-article","tag-teagan-dernisky","tag-saskatoon-blades","tag-whl-draft","category-1110","description-off"],"acf":[],"featured_image":["https:\/\/media.chl.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2026\/06\/10165852\/Dernisky_Signed-1920.png",1920,1080,false],"hide_from_app_feed":false,"video":false,"gallery":null,"ht_game_id":0,"target_video":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/268243","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/130"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=268243"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/268243\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/268245"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=268243"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=268243"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=268243"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}},{"id":268232,"date":"2026-06-10T15:58:23","date_gmt":"2026-06-10T21:58:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl\/?p=268232"},"modified":"2026-06-10T15:58:23","modified_gmt":"2026-06-10T21:58:23","slug":"2026-nhl-draft-profile-ryan-lin-vancouver-giants","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl\/article\/2026-nhl-draft-profile-ryan-lin-vancouver-giants","title":{"rendered":"2026 NHL Draft Profile | Ryan Lin, Vancouver Giants"},"content":{"rendered":" In the Lin household in Richmond, B.C., there’s a special hockey stick hanging on the wall that’s adorned with a mounting number of medals and awards.<\/p>\n Its owner, Ryan Lin, has to admit, the load is getting pretty heavy.<\/p>\n His accolades don’t tell the whole story of the 18-year-old’s hockey journey, but it certainly paints a picture of how much he’s already achieved- and how hard he’s willing to work for more.<\/p>\n “Two highlights so far in my career have been winning a gold medal with Team Canada at the U17s and U18s last year,” Lin said. “They’re both just such good groups and like, for those two weeks, that was a lot of fun. It’s probably the most fun I’ve had playing hockey, and then to cap it off with the gold medal for our country.”<\/p>\n In addition to those 2024-25 gold medals, Lin also owns a bronze from the 2025 Hlinka Gretzky Cup and paced all defencemen at the 2026 IIHF U18 World Championship with six points (1G-5A) in five games.<\/p>\n But as the stages get bigger, he’s never forgotten where he started.<\/p>\n Lin grew up attending Vancouver Giants games and idolized his older brother, Teo.<\/p>\n He even started his career as a forward, just like Teo.<\/p>\n While the position didn’t stick, Lin has gotten to live out his childhood dream after being drafted by his hometown Giants with the sixth overall pick in the 2023 WHL Prospects Draft.<\/p>\n The right-shot defender broke into the league with a 53-point (5G-48A) campaign in 2024-25, joining exceptional status defender Landon DuPont as the first rookie WHL defencemen aged 16 or younger to surpass 50 points since Hockey Hall-of-Famer and Kamloops Blazers legend Scott Niedermayer pulled it off in 1989-90.<\/p>\n Despite seeing his sophomore season shortened by injury, Lin followed it up with a tremendous 57 points (14G-43A) in 53 games in 2025-26, nearly tripling his goal output, averaging more than a point per game and establishing himself as one of the top prospects for the 2026 NHL Draft.<\/p>\n Lin was named an alternate captain for Team CHL at the 2025 CHL USA Prospects Challenge, which saw top draft-eligibles from around the CHL take on the U.S. National Team Development Program in November.<\/p>\n He most certainly would have been a headlining player at the 2026 WHL Prospects Game in February, had he not been sidelined by a wrist injury.<\/p>\n Despite not getting to showcase his game at that event, Vancouver Giants coaching staff say the adversity showcased Lin’s mental strength and determination.<\/p>\n “He would come in from the workouts with Pav (Pavel Dhah), our strength and conditioning coach, and he would be drenched,” Giants assistant coach Wacey Rabbit recalled. “He’d always be on the bike, or he’d be doing something, and if not, he was watching practice, and he wasn’t just watching to hang out, he was actually watching what we were doing, and so when he was ready, it was almost seamless to step into our lineup. That’s the reason why he was our captain.”<\/p>\n What the 5-foot-11, 180-pound rearguard lacks in size, he makes up for in snarl.<\/p>\n “I just make up for it in other areas,” Lin shrugged. “I think my skating helps me, like, if I have a big forechecker come down on me, I think I can evade and make a move or do whatever I need to do to get around them. I don’t think it’s a disadvantage. I just think my other areas of my game are enhanced because of it.<\/p>\n I’d say relentless would be a good one. I think everywhere on the ice, I work hard and do the right things for our team, and then individually, I think I can create a lot of offense for our team.”<\/p>\n For his part, Rabbit believes Lin has what it takes to thrive in a new-wave class of NHL defencemen under 6-feet tall that features players like two-time WHL Defenceman of the Year Olen Zellweger, Lane Hutson and Quinn Hughes, among others.<\/p>\n After all, Rabbit has seen Lin take on more than his fair share of hulking opponents in the WHL- and even sees shades of 2026 Norris Trophy winner Zach Werenski in Lin’s game.<\/p>\n “He’s a breakout machine,” Rabbit said. “They had some guys with some size, and he’s so good with his angles that they run out of real estate, and going back, (he’s) separating the man from the puck. He doesn’t have a problem boxing out. He’s very strong for his size… I’ve seen him put some guys on their back that are a little bit bigger than him.<\/p>\n “He picks his spots, and if it doesn’t work out, he’s always the first guy back ready to defend and taking on those line rushes, so I think he’s the perfect defenceman for today’s NHL.”<\/p>\n NHL Central Scouting has ranked Lin 16th among all North American skaters heading into the 2026 NHL Draft.<\/p>\n He’s projected to become one of the highest-drafted Giants defencemen in franchise history.<\/p>\n Lin was also among the prospects invited to the annual NHL Combine in Buffalo, N.Y., where he posted top-10 finishes in four of the 15 events (10-metre sprint, no arm jump, vertical jump and bench press power) and met with various team brass.<\/p>\n “I’m grateful that it’s all happening and that I’m in this situation to do all this stuff,” Lin added. “Not many 17, 18-year-olds get to go through stuff like this.<\/p>\n My parents said it only happens once, so you’ve kind of got to enjoy it- don’t get too stuck up on it, though.”<\/p>\n The 2026 NHL Draft begins with Round One on Friday, June 26, at 5:00 p.m. MT, with Round 2-7 following on Saturday, June 27.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" In the Lin household in Richmond, B.C., there’s a special hockey stick hanging on the wall that’s adorned with a mounting number of medals and awards. Its owner, Ryan Lin, has to admit, the load is getting pretty heavy. His accolades don’t tell the whole story of the 18-year-old’s hockey journey, but it certainly paints…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":487,"featured_media":268242,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"article","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1110],"tags":[{"term_id":1518,"name":"Ryan Lin","slug":"ryan-lin","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":1518,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":30,"filter":"raw","term_order":"819"},{"term_id":1301,"name":"2026 NHL 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Chiefs ink first-round selection Jack Arnold to WHL Scholarship and Development Agreement"},"content":{"rendered":" Spokane, Wash. \u2014\u202f<\/span><\/b>The Spokane Chiefs are proud to announce that 2011-born\u00a0forward\u00a0Jack Arnold\u00a0has signed a WHL Scholarship and Development Agreement. The\u00a06\u20193\u201d,\u00a0170\u00a0lb\u00a0Arnold was the first American taken\u00a0in the 2026 WHL Prospects Draft\u00a0when he\u00a0was\u00a0drafted\u00a0by the Spokane Chiefs\u00a016<\/span>th<\/span>\u00a0overall in early May.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cJack is a big,\u00a0athletic\u00a0and skilled power forward with elite-level work ethic on and off the ice. He is skilled in his playmaking with a powerful and\u00a0accurate\u00a0shot. He is an enthusiastic and driven individual who we feel is just scratching the surface of what he can become as a hockey player and we cannot wait to help him with his development in Spokane,\u201d said\u00a0Spokane Chiefs Assistant General Manager George\u00a0Ross.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Playing for the Dallas Stars Elite 14 club\u00a0last season, Arnold had\u00a032\u00a0goals and\u00a060\u00a0points in\u00a051\u00a0games.\u202f\u00a0Arnold recorded three points in three games at the US 14U Nationals and eight points in five games at the U15 Toronto Exposure Cup.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cGetting drafted by the Chiefs is a dream come true, and I\u2019m super thankful for the opportunity to join the Chiefs organization,\u201d Arnold said.\u00a0\u201cI want to thank my family, teammates, coaches, and everybody who has supported me throughout my journey.\u00a0I\u2019m\u00a0super excited for\u00a0what\u2019s\u00a0ahead and ready to get to work.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Arnold, from Dallas, Texas,\u00a0is first\u00a0able\u00a0to join the team as a full-time player during the 2027-28\u00a0season. \u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Spokane Chiefs General Manager Matt Bardsley on what Arnold can bring to the team, \u201cJack is an exciting player who brings excellent size, compete, and an all-around complete game who we believe will be a key contributor to our team and one who is hard to play against.\u00a0We are excited to welcome Jack and his family to the Chiefs organization.\u201d[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row]<\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Spokane, Wash. \u2014\u202fThe Spokane Chiefs are proud to announce that 2011-born\u00a0forward\u00a0Jack Arnold\u00a0has signed a WHL Scholarship and Development Agreement. The\u00a06\u20193\u201d,\u00a0170\u00a0lb\u00a0Arnold was the first American taken\u00a0in the 2026 WHL Prospects Draft\u00a0when he\u00a0was\u00a0drafted\u00a0by the Spokane Chiefs\u00a016th\u00a0overall in early May.\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cJack is a big,\u00a0athletic\u00a0and skilled power forward with elite-level work ethic on and off the ice. He is…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":130,"featured_media":268237,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"article","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1110],"tags":[{"term_id":2385,"name":"Jack Arnold","slug":"jack-arnold","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":2385,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":1,"filter":"raw","term_order":"3"},{"term_id":1301,"name":"2026 NHL Draft","slug":"2026-nhl-draft","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":1301,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":51,"filter":"raw","term_order":"1007"},{"term_id":37,"name":"spokane chiefs","slug":"spokane-chiefs","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":91,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":1103,"filter":"raw","term_order":"1979"}],"class_list":["post-268235","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-article","tag-jack-arnold","tag-2026-nhl-draft","tag-spokane-chiefs","category-1110","description-off"],"acf":[],"featured_image":["https:\/\/media.chl.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2026\/06\/10121205\/Signed-1920_Arnold.png",1920,1080,false],"hide_from_app_feed":false,"video":false,"gallery":null,"ht_game_id":0,"target_video":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/268235","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/130"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=268235"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/268235\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/268237"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=268235"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=268235"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=268235"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}]