Bruins' tank pays off as James Hagens gives them an NHL Draft first-round steal

New York Times

6 hours ago

BOSTON — By selling off Trent Frederic, Justin Brazeau, Charlie Coyle, Brandon Carlo and Brad Marchand in a four-day span in March, Boston Bruins general manager Don Sweeney made a decision that no exec ever hopes to make.
Accumulating points would no longer be a priority. He would not mind if the Bruins faded for the rest of the regular season to improve his odds of drafting a game-changing teenager.
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On Friday, three-plus months after creating a roster that was designed to lose, the general manager felt a degree of solace for his suffering.
James Hagens, once considered a possibility to go No. 1 in the 2025 NHL Draft, was still available when the Bruins were up at No. 7. Sweeney had no choice but to make the 18-year-old center the team's highest selection since Tyler Seguin was picked at No. 2 in 2010.
One reason prospect experts once had Hagens atop their 2025 lists was the way he set up his 2024-25 freshman season at Boston College. The prior year, Hagens went on a rampage with the U.S. National Team Development Program's Under-18 team, scoring 39 goals and 102 points in 58 games. For perspective, Hagens' point sum tied him in the U.S. NTDP record books with Patrick Kane's 2005-06 output, eighth-most in program history.
'He's excelled against his peer group at every opportunity he's had,' Sweeney said Friday. 'His production at the program is among the best that's ever played. There's been some pretty special players. In college hockey, he played on a top line. We believe in the player and what he's done. He won a gold medal at World Juniors against the best players in his age group and all across the world.'
Hagens became one of the players to watch in the first round for another reason. A native of Hauppauge, N.Y., there was a chance for him to be claimed by his hometown team. The New York Islanders traded Noah Dobson to the Montreal Canadiens on Friday for Nos. 16 and 17 and Emil Heineman. The Islanders could have bundled the back-to-back picks to move up and select the Long Island native. New GM Mathieu Darche admitted there was an attempt.
Mathieu Darche confirms on ESPN that the @NYIslanders tried to move up, when asked about Hagens.
— Greg Wyshynski (@wyshynski) June 28, 2025
Hagens said he was not following the chatter.
'I stay away from all that stuff,' he said. 'I had no idea where I was going to end up. I'm so grateful I'm ending up in Boston and I'm a Bruin.'
The Bruins considered trading the seventh pick for multiple later selections. But they concluded the chance to draft the dynamic center not one worth ceding.
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'We had some opportunities,' Sweeney said. 'But we just felt that when James was there, we had to make the selection. And wanted to make the selection.'
The 5-foot-11 Hagens, who said he's up to 190 pounds, is a playmaking center with a good shot. Scouts have used Jack Hughes and Logan Cooley as NHL comparables. He is at his best when he controls the puck and plays at high speed.
Hagens applied his strengths to the max at the U.S. NTDP. So it was perhaps with a degree of disappointment that the six teams picking before the Bruins assessed Hagens' freshman output at BC: 11 goals and 37 points in 37 games. They were not video-game numbers. But his 37 points were good enough to place him No. 3 on the roster, only behind NHLers-in-waiting Ryan Leonard (49) and Gabe Perreault (48).
'There's no shame in the type of year he had, playing on the top line on one of the top teams in the country,' Sweeney said. 'There's no concern on our part that he took a step back from a production standpoint.'
Hagens played with pace and skill, but also with a sprinkle of deference to Leonard and Perreault, his older top-line partners.
'I thought this year was really good,' Hagens said. 'You've just got to go out and prove next year and prove to everyone that there's nothing wrong. I'm in the spot where I want to be. I want to be a Boston Bruin.'
Whether a pro push is imminent is unknown. Hagens said he will speak with the Bruins about where he should play in 2025-26. It's likely he will return to BC for his sophomore season. Hagens noted the Beanpot and the NCAA championship as two objectives.
Assuming Hagens stays with the Eagles, he will have more responsibility to take another step. Leonard and Perreault are gone. So is Jacob Fowler, one of college hockey's top goalies for his two BC seasons. It will be up to Hagens to lead the offense. Fellow Bruins prospects Andre Gasseau, Oskar Jellvik and Dean Letourneau will be part of that cohort, too.
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'He'll probably look to generate a bit more, look to have a shoot-first mentality at times,' Sweeney said. 'He had a chance to play with Ryan Leonard, who can really fire a puck. Chances are, especially as a young player, you look to make sure he has the puck in his hands plenty of times. He did a really good job of that and distributing. But they have lost a lot of players. It will be a good opportunity for several of our guys who are at that university to take that step. He'll be right at the front of the line. He'll have the hard matchups again against the other top lines in college hockey. It will be a good test for him.'