Predators select Wyatt Cullen No. 10 overall in 2026 NHL Draft

A hockey bloodline has established its next generation. With the 10th overall pick of the 2026 NHL Draft Friday night at KeyBank Center in Buffalo, with the help of country star Luke Bryan, the Nashville Predators selected left winger Wyatt Cullen out of USA Hockey’s National Team Development Program. Cullen is the son of 1,516 NHL veteran and three-time Stanley Cup champ Matt Cullen, who was a 1996 second-round pick, and the great nephew of undrafted 621-game veteran and 1998-99 Masterton Trophy winner John Cullen.

Wyatt Cullen, 17, was a big riser up draft boards as the 2025-26 calendar progressed. Per Daily Faceoff prospect analyst Steven Ellis, Cullen has grown by about five inches and 30 pounds since he started his junior career and is now a solid 6-foot-1 and 176 pounds. Cullen brings speed and two-way sensibility reminiscent of his dad’s, and Wyatt is most likely to top out in the NHL as a middle-six forward, but he’s known as someone who makes his teammates better. Might Wyatt might have a higher ceiling than Matt, however? Wyatt’s skating gives him the ability to blow past opponents, and he’s an excellent puckhandler. He ripped up the 2026 Under-18 World Championship with three goals and nine points in five games and was named to the tournament All-Star team.

It was quite a season for Cullen consider how it began; on the shelf after tearing his hip flexor off the bone. His delayed start to the year suppressed his draft value, and he was graded as more of a mid-round prospect earlier this season, but that appraisal was quickly proven wrong once he got onto the ice.

Cullen has committed to the University of Minnesota. Joining the Golden Gophers, Cullen will be honoring his home state, though it won’t be his dad’s team. Matt played his NCAA career at St. Cloud State.