Wyatt Cullen - son of former Pittsburgh Penguin and three-time Stanley Cup champion Matt Cullen - learned some valuable and applicable lessons from his time as a child in Pittsburgh.
Unlike in some years past, there weren't too many Pittsburgh connections at this year's NHL Scouting Combine.
However, there was one player who made himself stand out quite well — and one who will always have a connection with the Penguins in some capacity, regardless of where he ends up after the NHL Entry Draft on Jun. 26.
Wyatt Cullen is one of the many players who turned some heads at the Combine using his strength in skating and in puck skills. But something else well-known by now is that he is the 17-year-old son of former Penguins' forward Matt Cullen, who won back-to-back Stanley Cups with the team in 2016 and 2017.
At the time of that first Cup, Wyatt was only seven years old. But he had the unique privilege of being exposed to that championship locker room and culture day-in and day-out, picking the brains of guys like Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin during some of the prime years of their NHL careers.
Wyatt said he learned so much from his experience in Pittsburgh, where he went to school for a few years and took the ice with some all-time great players.
"I learned so much being around them those years," Cullen said. "We went to school there for a couple years and got to be around the locker room and stuff like that. Just being out there on the ice, we got to skate with them and [do] skill skates and stuff like that. And just being around them in the locker room, you kinda see what they do, their habits, just the little things that they do to be so good at the NHL level.
"So, I think I took so much away from those years."
Of course, Wyatt learned a great deal from the Crosbys, the Malkins, the Kessels, and more on that team, but he also learned a whole lot from his father. During Matt's first two seasons in Pittsburgh, he joined a locker room already chock-full of experienced veterans with a Stanley Cup already under his belt - he also won one in 2005-06 with the Carolina Hurricanes - and meshed well with the team as its fourth-line center, registering 19 goals and 63 points in 154 games across those two seasons.
He did return to Pittsburgh in 2018-19, too, and ended up retiring a Penguin. Cullen Sr. was a winner with the Penguins and, in general, and a lot of those work habits and that mindset rubbed off on Wyatt.
Locker room legends weren't the only mentors for him during that time, as he had a household member to learn directly from in those days.
And, well, he's learned a lot from his dad, especially in the sense of achieving balance mentally and from game-to-game, year-to-year.
"So much. He's taught me so much, especially just hockey-wise," Wyatt said. "And I think, just this draft year, kind of, you know there's going to be ups and downs in the draft year. He's been through it, and he's given me so many tips.
"I think it's just being level-headed. You're gonna have a good game, you're gonna have a bad game, and I think he's helped me so much, for sure."
HIs father has also helped out on the everyday life side of things, too.
"Just life-wise, I think for me, being a smaller kid my whole life, pretty much, it's kind of been a day-by-day mentality. For me, I'm just working to be the best player I can be each day, and I think it's really helped me out for these past few years, just working day-by-day and not too far ahead."
Wyatt did meet with the Penguins during this Combine, and like many others echoed, Pittsburgh was pretty direct in its approach to their player meetings. Instead of having a cognitive test or a bland conversation, they began their meetings with each player by showing a video compilation of their "lowlights" and learning moments.
Naturally, players had a mixed response to that approach, with some finding it peculiar and others finding it extremely helpful. Wyatt grouped himself in with the latter, and he understands and appreciates the raw honesty coming from Pittsburgh in terms of what needs worked on the most.
"It went really well," Wyatt said. "They showed some bad clips of you, but I think it's really good. They kind of helped me out a bit and gave me some good tips, so I think it went really well."
Things should go well for Wyatt in this year's draft, too, with some projecting him as a top-10 pick. The left winger believes his skill, speed, and hands will be valuable assets to whatever team decides to take chance on him, and he believes in his potential as a top-six NHL player in the future.
"I think my skill is, kind of, top-four, five, three in the draft. I have really high-end skill, and I think that's what separates me. I see the ice and have really high-IQ, and I feel like my IQ and skillset is what separates me from other guys."
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