Red Wings 2026 first round pick JP Hurlbert (left) and 2025 fourth round pick Brent Solomon square off in drills for the US Junior National Team. (Photo Credit: Max Smith) For the past week or so, JP Hurlbert and Brent Solomon, two of the Red Wings most recent draft picks, have been playing as teammates on the US Junior Team at the World Junior Summer Showcase.
The two were already somewhat familiar, having participated together in the Red Wings most recent development camp just weeks before. Now, as the WJSS comes to a close and the pair look forward, they’ll have one more opportunity to play as teammates before they’ll find themselves on opposite ends of the ice in one of the top divisions in college hockey. Big Expectations For the University of Wisconsin commit Solomon, getting drafted and having the opportunity to play in for the Badgers has always been a dream.
While has largely grown up in Minnesota, his family is from Wisconsin, with many spending their college years in Madison. Getting to spend the summer in chromatically similar digs to his dream college, of course, is a nice bonus to the Red Wings drafting him in the fourth round in 2025. Solomon spent the past year in the USHL with the Sioux Falls Stampede, playing at just under a point per game clip with 24 goals and 29 assists in 54 games, becoming one of their top contributors as a rookie.
That performance earned him an invite to this year’s US Men’s Junior National Team and the World Junior Summer Showcase, alongside some of the top players in the United States. That includes WHL Rookie of the Year and the Red Wings top selection from the 2026 draft, Hurlbert. ‘Obviously a great player, super fast, has a great shot.’ Hurlbert said, ‘He brings a lot of energy, which I think is big to bring on a winning team.’ The two faced off several times in scrimmages over the past week, but before they’re teammates again, in a Red Wings uniform or otherwise, they’ll be spending a lot time battling it out in the Big Ten with Hurlbert committed to the University of Michigan.
Subheading Two A few years ago, the two may not have had the opportunity to meet at the college level, considering the NCAA’s rules against admitting players who had previously played in the CHL. However, after opening the floodgates from the northern border, the NCAA landscape has changed significantly in the last few years. ‘Going to the Big Ten, it’s playing great teams week in, week out, so that’ll be fun,’ Solomon said.
Along the way, he’ll have to face down a deep University of Wisconsin schedule, bookended by series with Notre Dame. He’ll also have to face off against Hurlbert and the Wolverines twice before the two have an opportunity to reunite on the same bench when the IIHF World Junior Championships begin. ‘It’s just playing against you know, a lot of the best American and Canadian players that there is,’ Hurlbert said, ‘We all have our minds set on hopefully meeting back here in December and trying to go for a gold medal.
‘