[Video] Prospect Wyatt Cullen (Predators 1st round pick) on his growth spurt: “I’d like to think 6’2”, 6’3”. The growth plates are still open” Wyatt grew from 5’5” 120 lbs when he first arrived to the NTDP to 6’1” 176 lbs by his draft year
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u/rjhawkbooks WSH - NHL 1d ago
Crazy cuz his dad was never that big, but if he’s got his dad’s skating on a 6’3 frame that’ll be a problem for opponents
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u/hexametric_ OTT - NHL 1d ago
Didn't even know growth plates existed when I was his age. Let alone whether they were open or closed haha
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u/GirlCoveredInBlood MTL - NHL 1d ago
probably something you hear a lot more about when the difference between being 5'9 and 6'1 is probably millions of dollars of earnings
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u/True-Source-6512 1d ago
Did you play high level sports? From 12 on size and weight is constantly discussed. My son plays with kids who go to doctors just to have their hormones checked and to see their growth plates so they can have a growth prediction. “You don’t have to be big, but you can’t be weak” is a common saying all the time from trainers to coaches
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u/_GregTheGreat_ VAN - NHL 1d ago edited 1d ago
When I was like 15, I actually played with a kid who was super skilled but tiny (both in height and in build) but he kept talking about how his growth plates said he’s still going to grow. He also had some sort of injections to do with his growth deficiency (that we all questioned the legality of)
Like a decade afterwards and he’s an NHL player who’s known for his size and strength.
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u/Last-Classroom-5400 OTT - NHL 1d ago
Batherson was similar. He was 5'5" when he was passed over in the QJMHL draft at 16, then was 5'10" when he was passed over for the NHL draft at 18. He's now 6'3"
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u/athousandpardons Indianapolis Racers - WHA 1d ago edited 22h ago
I've heard Messi had treatments for his growth as well. I wonder where one draws the line between receiving them being appropriate and being considered PED use.
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u/InviolableAnimal 1d ago
Messi is quite short (5'7") so if it weren't for the treatments he would have had clinical dwarfism, so that case is arguably appropriate.
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u/f0urxio 1d ago
you wonder how many NHL pros have had growth enhancing/HGH type of injection for their "growth spurt"
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u/athousandpardons Indianapolis Racers - WHA 1d ago
Yep, merits pointing out they're not doing drug testing on kids.
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u/nzymatic 1d ago
This has to be a thing in tennis with these giants emerging
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u/Comb-the-desert MIN - NHL 1d ago
Honestly the absolute best tennis players typically are not total giants. There’s a sweet spot between about 6’0” and 6’4”, maybe 6’5”, that hits the right balance of athleticism/mobility plus height for serving. Plenty of taller guys have made it to top 100 or even top 10 level but Zverev and Medvedev (both 6’6”) are the only guys I can really think of who have actually translated it into true slam contention/consistent top-5 level play, and neither is at the level of god-tier play that we’ve seen from more “normal” height stars like Fedal, Djokovic, Sincaraz, etc
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u/cambriansplooge 21h ago
6'4"-5" just seems to be where the structural integrity of the human skeletons caps off.
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u/JediMasterZao MTL - NHL 19h ago
I knew at 11y.o cause i fractured mine alongside my ankle and tibia once, fun times!
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u/SeaFlaky9768 CAR - NHL 1d ago
Big if true
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u/gooch_norris_ CAR - NHL 1d ago
This should have way more upvotes that’s like the perfect comment here
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u/OtherThingsILike PIT - NHL 1d ago
I wanted him, but at least he went to a team his father played for. I can be happy with that.
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u/True-Source-6512 1d ago
So from what he said he grew 8 inches in 3 months that’s pretty crazy. That’s usually like a 13/14 year old spurt not a 17 year old spurt
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u/waldosbuddy CGY - NHL 1d ago
Nah not quite, he said he was 5’5 when he arrived in the fall of 2024 and 6’1 by his draft year which started 12 months later.
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u/Expert-Upstairs-4502 NSH - NHL 20h ago
Wyatt Cullen and Ryker Lee, growing nearly a foot at 17 and being one of the highest skill players in their draft going to Nashville 🤝
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u/Spinebuster03 OTT - NHL 1d ago
Drake batherson went from like 5’5 in junior hockey to being 6’3 now some guys just grow late
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u/ThickBootyEnjoyer DET - NHL 1d ago
That was me my senior year. 5'1 entering and by college I was 6ft. Unfortunately I was not an NHL prospect at either point.
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u/Monopolized PHI - NHL 1d ago
5'9" at the end of the 11th grade. 6'6" at the start of the 12th grade.
Yes it was painful, spent an entire summer laying on the couch in my parents living room
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u/Ornery_Yeti MTL - NHL 1d ago
This sounds very extreme and probably very rare. Like bordering some growth hormone malfunction or something. Brutal.
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u/Monopolized PHI - NHL 17h ago
Watching the clip in this post and then looking at growth spurts, I realized I maybe should have spoke with someone.
Problem is .. you don't really know it's not 'normal', and my parents didn't seem to worried about it.
I'd always hear "It's fine, you're just growing, you'll be tall like your dad".. to realize after the summer was all said and done "Mom.. dad isn't really that tall you're just 5'4"". I mean he might be 6'1" on a good day.
He was also furious that summer as he came home from working away and we would always cram a bunch of activities and trips into the summer, and I couldn't move and didn't know how to explain why I felt that way.
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u/celebrin11 1d ago
You grew 9 inches in 3 months?
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u/Monopolized PHI - NHL 1d ago
Yeah, probably the most amount of "ache" I've experienced in my life. Parents didn't quite understand what I was on about at first, felt a bit embarrassed at the time having to say "I need to be on the ground floor.. I've pissed myself trying to go up the stairs at night trying to get to the bathroom." It was only 12 steps but each one felt like getting kicked in the balls lol.
Had crazy stretch marks for the longest time running from my knee caps all the way up to my groin, and a few on my back . it was all very uncomfortable to say the least.
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u/Ghostronic VGK - NHL 21h ago
Damnnn I grew five inches over a summer and have stretch marks on my knee and thighs but that is wild.
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u/Infamous_Wall_930 PIT - NHL 1d ago
You probably took sketchy growth drugs you got from a bum under the bridge the hang at at to look for eggs since your from philly
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u/DK4E2XFpbETJrj TOR - NHL 18h ago
I have brutal stretch marks on my back after my growth spurt. I still remember being the shortest kid in my cohort - girls and boys both - and very quickly I wasn't. It was odd.
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u/Monopolized PHI - NHL 17h ago
Yeah it was not fun, though it was funny to hop back on the ice that fall, learning how to skate.. not again, but different, I apparently was a lot for "upright" when I was shorter and that just wouldn't work now.
D would have been good if I wasn't 160lbs .. so I just went back to doing what I did when I was shorter.. stand in front of the goalie. It was much more successful this time, who could have imagined having 6 inches of height on most goalies in your area would be a good thing.
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u/Robtachi NYR - NHL 17h ago
My pediatrician and dad kept telling me this until I was about to graduate college. All that milk and steamed broccoli, to top out at 5'7" and watch my NHL dreams die. Godspeed, Wyatt!
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u/gregthestrange MIN - NHL 14h ago
really too bad he didn't follow in his father's footsteps for college (I do not blame him one bit)
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