Boston Bruins
Hagens and Zellers mixed for 3 targets in Staff USA’s win on Monday night time.
The longer term is wanting brilliant for the Boston Bruins.
A disastrous 2024-25 Bruins season gave Boston an ample alternative to restock its barren prospect pool — headlined by gifted skills like James Hagens and Will Zellers.
And on Monday night, each Bruins prospects showcased their playmaking skills for Staff USA through the IIHF World Junior Championship in St. Paul, Minn.
Hagens and Zellers left their fingerprints throughout Staff USA’s 6-5 comeback win over Slovakia at Grand On line casino Area. Hagens — the seventh-overall choose within the 2025 NHL Draft — earned Participant of the Sport after scoring two targets within the span of 1:03 of recreation motion.
Hagens’ first tally of the event tied the sport at 4-4 with 45 seconds to go within the second interval, together with his second giving the People a 5-4 benefit simply 18 seconds into the third.
“Its going to be plenty of ups and downs, you’d be mendacity if you happen to say every part’s going to go nicely in a hockey recreation, nevertheless it’s simply the way you deal with that,” Hagens stated of Monday’s win whereas talking to Jon Morosi on NHL Network. “Everybody on our bench, everybody’s so poised, everybody’s so calm. So that you’ve simply received to be sure that when adversity hits you, you will have a response.”
Zellers — acquired by Boston from Colorado within the Charlie Coyle commerce final March — scored the eventual game-winning tally 4:34 into the third interval. Zellers, as soon as thought of a roster-bubble candidate on Staff USA, has been a drive all through the event.
The 2025 USHL Participant of the 12 months has scored 4 targets and two assists by three video games, with all three of Zellers’ tallies standing as game-winners. Hagens has two targets and two assists over that very same stretch.
With the Bruins struggling to search out their footing amid a six-game dropping skid, some optimism might be discovered within the Unique Six franchise’s burgeoning prospect pool.
Hagens — expected to be a playmaking top-six center in the NHL ranks — was seen as one of many prime skills within the 2025 NHL Draft class and has 18 factors (10 targets, eight assists) over 16 video games at Boston School to this point this season.
Zellers has continued to raise his stock since arriving in Boston as one of many key returns for Coyle. The 2024 third-round choose stuffed the stat sheet within the USHL in 2024-25 — scoring 44 targets and 71 whole factors in 52 video games with the Inexperienced Bay Gamblers.
That scoring surge has continued since making the leap to the collegiate ranks, with the winger scoring 10 targets in his first 18 video games as a freshman at North Dakota earlier than breaking out at World Juniors.
“He’s only a greasy goalscorer. He gained extra confidence at North Dakota as he was going – that’s why we added him,” Staff USA head coach Bob Motzko instructed reporters after a win over Switzerland on Saturday night time. “And proper from day one, we noticed it.”
The continued emergence of Hagens and Zellers on the worldwide stage must be a welcome sight for the Bruins, who’re persevering with to domesticate promising expertise as they undergo their ongoing rebuild.
Past Hagens and Zellers, 6-foot-7 ahead Dean Letourneau is having a bounce-back sophomore marketing campaign at Boston School — with the Bruins 2024 first-round choose now as much as 11 targets and 19 factors over 18 video games with the Eagles.
The Bruins may add extra expertise to their system through the 2026 NHL Draft, as Boston additionally holds its personal first-round choose in addition to Toronto’s first-rounder (top-five protected).
As of Monday night, Tankathon has Boston in line to pick each the tenth and twelfth picks within the first spherical of the 2026 Draft.
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