Predators draft Wyatt Cullen 10th overall from NTDP

Luke Bryan helped deliver the call, but the number that mattered was 10. Nashville used the 10th pick of the 2026 NHL Draft at KeyBank Center in Buffalo to grab Wyatt Cullen, making the Moorhead, Minnesota, forward the first NTDP player taken and one of the clearest signs that the U.S. development path still owns the American draft conversation.

The Predators doubled down on their first-round haul by taking defenseman Tommy Bleyl at No. 31, but Cullen was the headliner. USA Hockey said the selection made Cullen the sixth NTDP player drafted in the top 10 over the last five drafts and the 37th top-10 NTDP pick overall, a run that keeps the program at the center of NHL scouting for high-end talent.

Cullen’s numbers explain why Nashville stayed aggressive. He posted 16 points in 15 USHL games this season, with six goals and 10 assists, and led all NTDP skaters who appeared in USHL action in points per game. Across two NTDP seasons, he totaled 76 points, then broke through in his U18 year with 45 points in 40 games, including 16 goals and 29 assists.

He did not fade when the stage got bigger. USA Hockey named Cullen to the 2026 IIHF Under-18 Men’s World Championship team, and he produced nine points in five games at the event, a line that matched the offensive pace he showed against USHL competition. That mix of junior production and international scoring is the kind of resume that keeps NTDP forwards in the first-round conversation, even when their USHL sample is relatively short.

The draft moment carried family weight too. Matt Cullen played two seasons in Nashville during a 21-year NHL career, and the Predators framed Wyatt’s selection as a full-circle moment for the Cullen family. Nashville also pointed back to a March 2015 moment at Bridgestone Arena, when Wyatt stood beside Matt, Brooks and Joey before a Predators game.

Wyatt Cullen is committed to the University of Minnesota, and Brooks Cullen is also headed there, so the next step in his path is already set. For Nashville, the pick was a bet on a player whose USHL impact, NTDP track record and world-stage output checked every box teams want from a top-10 forward.