He took the Western Hockey League by storm.
And he's just getting warm.
After a 42-goal, 97-point season with the Kamloops Blazers that netted the product of Allen, Texas, WHL Rookie of the Year honours, Hurlbert has his feet pointed firmly forward ahead of NHL Draft weekend.
Amid the changing North American junior hockey landscape, he credits his time in the B.C. Interior with helping him showcase his skills both to WHL fans and NHL clubs alike. It's a stage an American player of Hurlbert's calibre might not have graced in years past, but Hurlbert jumped into the major junior waters with both feet, swimming laps around the competition along the way.
"I always wanted to take the NCAA route," the Michigan-committed winger said at the NHL Combine in Buffalo this past weekend. "Obviously the (eligibility) rule changing, I think the CHL is the best league in the world for developing junior players, putting them in the NHL.
"My dream is to play in the NHL, and so I thought that was the best path for me. So I went with it."
Hurlbert, who checks in at 6-feet and 190 lb., has the pro pathway ahead of him, and while he's stopping over in Ann Arbor first, there are a couple of recent Kamloops examples to emulate.
Connor Zary was a first-round pick by the Flames in 2020, and Logan Stankoven has caught fire in this year's Stanley Cup Playoffs with the Hurricanes, scoring 10 times this spring in a starring role as Carolina reached the Final for the first time in 20 years.
And like Stankoven, Hurlbert lit the lamp at the Interior Savings Centre in Kamloops. The duo are two of only five Blazers to score 42 or more goals in a season this century, part of which he credits to the tutelage of Kamloops head coach Shaun Clouston.
"I learned so much from him," said Hurlbert. "I even think having (defenceman and Penguins prospect) Harrison Brunicke come back, living with him on the road all year. You learn a lot off the ice from leadership roles, being vulnerable, being able to get coached by him.
"Shaun has such a great reputation and he's won everywhere he's gone. I think I improved in all aspects of my game."
That next phase of his improvement will come with the Maize and Blue, where Hurlbert will be teammates with Flames prospect Henry Mews. And even though his hockey background was based in the Lone Star State, Hurlbert is excited to carry on his family's rooting interest with the Wolverines.
"I'm excited for everything, to be honest, the student section, the environment," he said. "I've been going to games since I was five years old there.
"Probably the fourth generation of my family (to attend the University of Michigan), so it's kind of in my blood."
At the WHL level - and everywhere he's played previously - Hurlbert has been a play-driver. His 97 points this past season were fourth-most among WHL skaters, a total he credits to his ability to anticipate things on the cie.
"I think it's kind of my ability to slow a game down and speed it up," he said. "I'm not the fastest guy on the ice, but I think (I use) my brain to my advantage, being able to see things that are coming.
"I like the word anticipate for me. I can see we're gonna get the puck. My mentality is, 'We're gonna be on offence, so he's not.'"
Hurlbert, ranked No. 12 among North American skaters by NHL Central Scouting, was one of 90 top prospects invited to the Combine in Buffalo, and the Texan is hopeful he'll hear his name called on night one of the Draft June 26 at KeyBank Center.
And as the relationship between the NHL, CHL and NCAA continues to evolve, Hurlbert's journey is one others might follow in future years.
A pathway that even two seasons ago would never have been thought possible.
"Kind of a unique path," Hurlbert smiled, reflecting on how months have felt like days. "The next event's the Draft, it's pretty surreal.
"So (I'm) just kind of looking forward to it."
