USHL produces four first-round picks in 2026 NHL Draft recap

Four players with USHL ties went in the first round of the 2026 NHL Draft, a strong snapshot of how the league keeps feeding the NHL through multiple development tracks. Wyatt Cullen went 10th overall to Nashville, Tynan Lawrence went 11th to St. Louis, Ilia Morozov went 20th to Buffalo and Jack Hextall went 30th to Calgary at KeyBank Center in Buffalo.

Cullen’s rise showed the upside of the USA Hockey National Team Development Program. He entered the NTDP at 5-foot-8, had grown to 6-foot-1 and 183 pounds by the start of his draft year, and still put up 45 points in 40 games for the U-18 team after missing 22 games with a preseason injury. Over two USHL seasons, he posted nine goals and 24 assists in 48 games, production that put him on a first-round track despite the missed time. His NHL path also carried a family link, with his father, Matt Cullen, having played for Nashville from 2013-15 during a 21-year NHL career.

Lawrence brought a different profile to the podium. A former Muskegon captain and Clark Cup MVP, he produced 10 goals and seven assists in 13 USHL games before moving on to Boston University, then followed that with a dominant playoff run. He led all skaters in the 2025 Clark Cup Playoffs with eight goals and 10 assists in 14 games as Muskegon won its first-ever Clark Cup in May 2025, a run that turned him into one of the draft’s most accomplished junior players. His route blended leadership, scoring and a championship finish, a combination that made him stand out even before he reached college hockey.

Morozov and Hextall underscored the league’s range even more. Tri-City signed Morozov to a tender agreement on Dec. 14, 2023, after he scored 17 goals and 26 assists in 24 games for Windy City Storm U15 AAA, and he later posted 11 goals and 11 assists for the Storm before heading to Miami University at age 16 after leaving Russia and studying finance. Hextall, meanwhile, built his case with volume and power from Youngstown, finishing with 58 points in 59 games, 270 shots and six game-winning goals. The USHL said he averaged 1.44 points per game, the kind of production that made him one of the league’s most dangerous centers.

The draft board backed up the league’s claim as a development pipeline. The USHL said 67 players with league ties appeared in NHL Central Scouting’s mid-term rankings and 68 reached the final rankings, while these four first-rounders came from the NTDP, junior hockey and NCAA hockey. That spread showed a league producing elite talent in more than one mold, from Cullen’s size-and-skill jump to Lawrence’s playoff pedigree, Morozov’s fast track and Hextall’s high-volume offense.