When Will This Weekend's Draft Picks Make Their Texas Stars Debuts?

Tristan Bertucci, Dallas' top pick in 2023, playing on an ATO in Texas
(Credit: Ross Bonander/Texas Stars)

Today is the first day of the 2024 NHL Draft. Barring a trade, Dallas will make its first pick at #29. 

For Texas Stars fans, the prospect excitement should be tempered. Anyone who has their name called today or tomorrow will need to wait several years to hear it called again inside the H-E-B Center.

To get a sense of perspective, here's a look at the 2023-24 Texas Stars and when they were drafted.

When we ran this same analysis last year, the average time between draft year and AHL debut was exactly 3. This year, it's dropped to 2.65 with a median of 2. Dallas had a lot of recently-drafted rookies coming into this year's AHL roster, bringing the number down. Kyrou, Seminoff, White and Bichsel were all 2022 draft picks who debuted a year later, significantly pulling down the average debut time.

Ironically, we said last year that 2023 draft picks would make their full-season debut in 2026-27 in the AHL. However, based on this analysis, you could reasonably say that these 2024 picks will debut in the same time frame. All told though, 2026 is probably the earliest that anyone who is picked this weekend will visit Cedar Park for a game.