Flames select Cullen Potter No. 32 overall in 2025 NHL Draft
The Arizona State Sun Devils have produced another NHL draft pick, as the Calgary Flames selected Cullen Potter with the 32nd overall pick in the 2025 NHL Draft at The Peacock Theater in Los Angeles.
The pick originally belonged to the Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers but was traded to Calgary as part of the deal that saw Matthew Tkachuk and Jonathan Huberdeau, among other assets, exchanged.
Potter, 18, scored 13 goals and nine assists for 22 points in 35 games during his freshman season with Arizona State University (ASU) in 2024-25. He finished fourth on the team in goals and eighth in points.
Potter becomes the 13th Arizona State athlete to be drafted into the NHL, joining the likes of Joey Daccord and Josh Doan.
The Minneapolis, Minn., native also dressed with the U.S. National Development Team in 2023-24, where he scored nine goals and 13 assists for 22 points in 35 games.
Daily Faceoff’s Steven Ellis rated Potter as the No. 17 prospect in his final 2025 NHL Draft rankings, highlighting how his decision to go to college early paid off.
“He played around 20 minutes a night at ASU, and scouts were impressed with his play-driving abilities,” Ellis wrote, highlighting how, despite being 5-foot-9, his pure skill and ability to generate offense should make him a high pick.
“I like his commitment to playing in all three zones, and he anticipates plays and gets himself where he needs to be better than most of the draft class,” Ellis added. “I think the ceiling is higher for Potter than many others around this part of the draft, but he needs to show he can handle the physical challenge.”
Potter comes from an impressive hockey pedigree, as his mother, Jenny Schmidgall-Potter, was a four-time All-American at the University of Minnesota-Duluth, scoring 141 goals and 186 assists for 327 points in 134 career NCAA games. She went on to win four Olympic medals for the U.S., including gold in 1998, as well as four World Championships in 2005, 2008, 2009 and 2011.
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