With Adam Sandler announcing his pick, Boston College's James Hagens happy to be drafted by Bruins
Associated Press
Growing up on Long Island, James Hagens wanted nothing more than to be selected by the team he grew up rooting for, the New York Islanders.
Though that dream failed to materialize at the NHL draft on Friday night, the 18-year-old Boston College center was more than happy with the consolation. Hagens is not only staying in Boston, after being selected seventh overall by the Bruins, he enjoyed the extra bonus of having his name announced by Adam Sandler.
'Just being on a team that wants you the most, I love Boston. I love the area,' he said after becoming the first U.S.-born player taken in the draft. 'It's so special to have Adam Sandler make that pick. It's something I'll never forget for the rest of my life.'
It just so happens that Hagens lists his favorite movie as 'Happy Gilmore,' which features Sandler as a former hockey player who turns his attention to golf.
Wearing a Bruins jersey, Sandler announced the pick on a video screen on the draft stage inside the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles. As Hagens made his way up the aisle, Sandler could be seen celebrating on screen in the background.
Sandler was one of numerous celebrities to introduce teams' selections with the NHL going to a decentralized draft format in which its 32 franchises made their picks from their own markets. That's different from the past, when all teams gathered inside the same facility to make their picks.
At 5-foot-11, Hagens had 11 goals and 26 assist s to finish fourth in points among college freshmen last season. He scored five goals for America's gold medal-winning team at the world juniors championships.
The Islanders had the first pick, and selected defenseman Matthew Schaefer. Finally, a trade
The first 11 picks in the draft went by without any movement. Then, Commissioner Gary Bettman asked Kris Letang's son, Alex, to press the red button that brought 'Trade Alert' up on video screens.
The Pittsburgh Penguins traded No. 12, which the New York Rangers transferred to them earlier in the week to complete the J.T. Miller deal with Vancouver, to the cross-state rival Philadelphia Flyers for Nos. 22 and 31. The Flyers took big center Jack Nesbitt.
'You were our guy all along,' general manager Daniel Briere told him. Celebrity pickers
Bettman announced the first pick, then turned the responsibilities over to everyone from a WWE wrestler to a series of NHL alumni.
Golfer Tony Finau did it for Utah, Basketball Hall of Famer Charles Barkley for Philadelphia, members of the Goo Goo Dolls for Buffalo and Meredith Gaudreau, wife of late Blue Jackets star Johnny Gaudreau, for Columbus.
___
AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
New York Times
16 minutes ago
- New York Times
Bruins' tank pays off as James Hagens gives them an NHL Draft first-round steal
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. Advertisement 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. Advertisement '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. Advertisement '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.'
Yahoo
33 minutes ago
- Yahoo
2025 First Overall Pick Matthew Schaefer Embracing The Rangers-Islanders Rivalry
Kirby Lee-Imagn Images The New York Rangers may not have a first-round selection in the 2025 NHL Draft, but their presence has still been felt. Matthew Schaefer, the New York Islanders' first overall pick, was asked which team he's most looking forward to playing against in the NHL. Advertisement It's safe to say Schaefer is already embracing the Rangers-Islanders rivalry. 'I'm saying Rangers. I heard there's a big rivalry,' Schaefer said. 'I want to play against the Rangers, and I want to beat them every time we play them.' The Rangers hold eight picks through the 2-7 rounds on Saturday.
Chicago Tribune
an hour ago
- Chicago Tribune
New York Islanders choose Erie defenseman Matthew Schaefer with No. 1 pick in NHL draft
LOS ANGELES — The New York Islanders selected defenseman Matthew Schaefer with the No. 1 pick in the NHL draft Friday night. High-scoring forward Michael Misa went second overall to the San Jose Sharks, and the Chicago Blackhawks took Swedish forward Anton Frondell third at the Peacock Theater in downtown Los Angeles. The Islanders maneuvered their way into three picks in the top 17, but they surprised nobody by using their first No. 1 selection since 2009 on the 17-year-old Schaefer. The 6-foot-2 blueliner from Hamilton, Ontario, with exceptional puck-moving ability and strong defensive skills spent the past two seasons with the Ontario Hockey League's Erie Otters. Schaefer scored 22 points while playing in only 17 games last season before breaking his collarbone in December. Schaefer's acumen on both ends of the ice still propelled him to the top of nearly all draft boards. Schaefer is just the fifth defenseman picked No. 1 overall in the NHL draft since 2000, and the first since Owen Power went to Buffalo in 2021. Schaefer persevered through tragedy to reach this milestone. Schaefer's mother, Jennifer, died of cancer 16 months ago, and he also endured the recent deaths of the Otters' owner, Jim Waters, and the mother of his billet family. When Schaefer pulled on his Islanders sweater for the first time on the stage, he kissed a pink ribbon patch on the chest representing breast cancer awareness before breaking into tears. 'I appreciate you taking a chance on me,' Schaefer said in a video conference call with the Islanders' front office. 'I promise I won't disappoint, but especially I just want to say to my mom and all my family and friends, thanks for everything.' The Islanders added the patch specifically for Schaefer, along with his mother's initials. 'Seeing the ribbon on my jersey, and I saw a picture, it has J.S. on my back here,' Schaefer said. 'You can see just how high-class the organization is. It really means a lot. I wish my mom could be here today. Obviously, she's with me here in spirit. … Cancer sucks, and it's not fun. She didn't feel the best, but she was always the happiest in the family. She would do anything for us.' Schaefer got two new teammates when the Islanders used the 16th pick on Swedish forward Victor Eklund and nabbed defenseman Kashawn Aitcheson with the 17th selection. 'I finally have a new favorite NHL team': Chicago Blackhawks select Anton Frondell at No. 3 in the 2025 NHL draftBoth Pennsylvania teams also were busy in Los Angeles. The Philadelphia Flyers grabbed forward Porter Martone sixth overall before trading up for the 12th selection to get forward Jack Nesbitt, while the Pittsburgh Penguins maneuvered up and down the draft to control three picks in the top 24, swinging two trades while drafting forwards Benjamin Kindel, Bill Zonnon and William Horcoff. Misa tore up the OHL last season as the captain of the Saginaw Spirit, scoring 62 goals and 134 points in just 65 games. He joins a struggling Sharks organization that chose Will Smith fourth overall in 2023 and got center Macklin Celebrini with the first overall pick a year ago. 'We just thought it was a perfect fit with what we already have here,' Sharks general manager Mike Grier said. 'Another guy to step in and be a nightmare matchup for people.' Frondell excelled as a 17-year-old forward last season with Djurgården in Sweden's second division, showing off a two-way game that allowed him to push Misa on some draft boards. At 6-2, he could provide a large complement to Connor Bedard. Frondell is the eighth Swedish player to be a top-three selection, joining elite company including Victor Hedman, Mats Sundin and the Sedin twins. Center Caleb Desnoyers went fourth to the Utah Mammoth, who moved up 10 spots in the draft lottery. The Nashville Predators chose physical forward Brady Martin with the fifth pick before trading up for the 21st selection to get Kitchener defenseman Cameron Reid. Martin skipped the draft, staying home on his family farm in Ontario. Fans of the host Los Angeles Kings inside the theater got fired up for their club to make the 24th selection — which the Kings promptly traded to Pittsburgh for the 31st and 59th selections, prompting groans from the crowd. Los Angeles eventually chose defenseman Henry Brzustewicz from the Memorial Cup champion London Knights in general manager Ken Holland's first selection for his new team. The Penguins created the majority of the surprises in the first round, first by choosing Calgary Hitmen center Kindel with the 11th pick — much higher than many prognosticators expected. Pittsburgh then traded the 12th pick, which originally belonged to the New York Rangers, to Philadelphia for the 22nd and 31st picks. The Flyers wanted the 6-foot-4 Nesbitt, a fast-rising center from the OHL's Windsor Spitfires last season. The Penguins also gave a second-round pick to the Kings and swapped first-rounders so they could move up for Horcoff — the son of NHL veteran Shawn Horcoff — with the 24th pick. The Anaheim Ducks took a chance on forward Roger McQueen with the 10th selection. The 6-foot-5 McQueen is widely thought to have enough talent to become an elite center, but the Saskatchewan native has been slowed by a back injury that scared off some teams. Two goalies were chosen in the first round for the first time since 2021 and only the third time in 13 years. Columbus grabbed Russia's Pyotr Andreyanov with the 20th pick, making him the highest-picked European goalie in four years, while San Jose added goalie Joshua Ravensbergen with the 30th selection. The Boston Bruins used the seventh overall pick on Boston College center James Hagens, the consensus top prospect for this draft a year ago. Hagens, a Long Island native coveted by many Islanders fans, slid down the board just enough to reach the Bruins, whose pick was announced by a video of Adam Sandler in character as Happy Gilmore, complete with his signature Bruins jersey. 'I'm so excited to be back in Boston, and to have Adam Sandler make the pick, that was special,' said Hagens, who cites 'Happy Gilmore' as his favorite movie. 'I love to win, and I'm really glad that I'm in Boston.' The Seattle Kraken chose playmaking forward Jake O'Brien eighth overall. The Islanders won the lottery to pick first in a draft that is packed with talent — while missing a few staples of recent drafts. There was no prohibitive lock of a No. 1 pick in this field, unlike the past two drafts — although Schaefer clearly came out on top for most executives. The draft also lacked the centralized structure that has long been a staple of this annual exercise. The 32 teams' various executives are mostly at home, not strewn across the draft floor. The majority of the picks were taken to a video room just behind the stage to exchange televised pleasantries with their new front offices through video conferencing.
