James Hagens Is A Boston Bruin

Jeff Vinnick. Getty Images.

With the 7th overall pick in the 2025 NHL Draft, Happy Gilmore announced that James Hagens (Boston College) is a Boston Bruin. What a moment it was last night, and I still can't believe Hagens dropped all the way down to 7. Once Utah took Desnoyers, I had of one of Martone, Hagens or Martin coming to Boston. I thought Philly was high on Hagens but they went Martone. Thank goodness Don didn't overthink it and went with Hagens, who was once the consensus No. 1 pick last year. His draft stock fell but it's great value for the Bruins.

If you told me last year that Hagens would be there and the Bruins would be able select him I would've called you a liar. The 18 year old posted 11G, 26A for 37 points in 27 games his freshman year at BC, he projects as a true playmaking 1C with good hands and good vision which is desperately what Boston needs. He won gold with Team USA at the World Juniors, scoring 5 goals and 4 assists for 9 points in 7 games. The biggest knock on Hagens is his size, as he's just 5'10 but says he's already up to 190 pounds, and at the end of the day skill trumps all in this league. 

As much as the decentralized draft as a production sucked and was insanely long, it was cool to see Adam Sandler as Happy Gilmore give the pick. Even funnier that Sweeney and Neely then could not speak to Hagens on the broadcast due to internet problems. I get wanting to use your home base as a war room but it just felt like we were back in COVID times. Anyways, Hagens met with the media and is unsure if he'll go pro or return to BC…

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I think another year would be beneficial for his development. Last night in his media availability Sweeney said "there will be no hurry to try and fast track James to the NHL. He’d like to play right away, but we’ll allow that to take a more natural course.” So some discussions to be had. The Bruins have a handful of guys at BC now, with Hagens joining Dean Letourneau, Oskar Jellvik, Andre Gasseau and Kristian Kostadinski as their prospects.

Hagens was on Spittin' Chiclets last week and talked in depth about his game and who he models himself after. His Dad was great too. Seems like a great kid, great family, and I cannot wait to see what he can do in Boston.

James Hagens. Boston Bruin. What a world.