Boston Bruins
Hagens is coming off a sophomore season at Boston Faculty the place he posted 47 factors in 34 video games.
The Boston Bruins’ prime prospect goes professional.
The Bruins introduced on Monday night time that Boston Faculty ahead James Hagens has signed an AHL novice tryout settlement (ATO), ending his collegiate profession after two seasons at Chestnut Hill.
Hagens will start his professional profession with the Windfall Bruins, with the expert ahead becoming a member of Windfall for his or her crew apply at Amica Mutual Pavilion on Tuesday morning.
Barring any setbacks, he’s anticipated to play his first recreation for the Windfall Bruins on Wednesday night time in Springfield towards the Thunderbirds.
“We’re very excited to have James be a part of the Bruins group and take this subsequent step,” Don Sweeney stated in a crew launch. “James is a crucial a part of our future, and it is a nice alternative for him to get instant expertise on the skilled stage in Windfall and proceed his improvement, whereas protecting all choices open.”
Hagens, 19, stands as one of the lauded prospects to come back by Boston’s system in a while.
The seventh general decide within the 2025 NHL Draft, Hagens stood as a comfort prize amid a disastrous 2024-25 marketing campaign in Boston.
The gifted ahead as soon as held court docket as the highest prospect in his draft class, even drawing comparisons to Jack Hughes after stuffing the stat sheet with the U.S. Nationwide Workforce Improvement Program.
However, even after posting 37 factors in 37 video games as a freshman at BC, Hagens noticed his inventory slip going into the draft, with questions persisting over his measurement and his manufacturing relative to the hype he generated within the NTDP.
The Bruins welcomed the chance so as to add such a blue-chip expertise to their pipeline, particularly after the draft lottery dropped them two spots down from their projected No. 5 spot.
“I feel that’s a bit of unfair when it comes to gamers stepping into as a freshman,” Sweeney stated of Hagens’ first 12 months at BC after drafting him final June. “You look again at James’ observe file, he’s been a prolific level producer. Should you’d seen him within the World Juniors — once more, towards his peer group, he was on the higher echelon on the manufacturing aspect of issues.
“He’ll be completely fantastic shifting ahead,” Sweeey added. “And that’s why we drafted him. We really feel he’s a man that may assist generate offensively and proceed to spherical out his 200-foot recreation, however needs to play it at each single scenario and has produced at each stage that he’s been at.”
Hagens impressed in his second season with the Eagles, scoring 23 objectives and posting 47 factors in 34 video games — serving to BC win its first Beanpot since 2016 and ending as a top-10 finalist for the Hobey Baker Award.
The Lengthy Island native drew reward from Boston Faculty head coach Greg Brown on Friday when requested concerning the development he made as a sophomore.
“He’s obtained so many extra dimensions to his recreation,” Brown said of Hagens, who performed totally on the wing this season with the Eagles. “The defensive aspect of the puck. The element. He may at all times carry a puck in. Unimaginable offensive concepts, imaginative and prescient. You see the concepts coming out of his head as he’s carrying the puck by the impartial zone. In order that half was at all times there.
“However he’s added to his offensive recreation. However, he’s actually added to his full recreation. … He’s not only a expertise. He’s a pupil of the sport. So, it’s nice to see his development in so many areas.”
With Hagens now within the fold, he’s seemingly on a path just like the one which Charlie McAvoy took after going professional following his sophomore season at Boston College.
McAvoy initially signed an novice tryout (ATO) contract with the Windfall Bruins after turning with the gifted blueliner getting some expertise towards AHL competitors after two years in Hockey East.
McAvoy finally performed 4 video games with Windfall that spring earlier than ultimately signing his entry-level contract with Boston after the Bruins’ D corps was decimated by accidents going into the 2017 Stanley Cup Playoffs.
By beginning his profession in Windfall, Hagens will get some run towards elevated competitors and provides Boston a while to guage how he acclimates to the professional recreation.
If he thrives in Windfall, the Bruins may signal Hagens to his ELC later this season — permitting him to make the bounce as much as the professional ranks as Boston readies for a playoff push.
Talking on Monday, Bruins head coach Marco Sturm stated he had no qualms over placing a prospect like Hagens into an NHL lineup.
“It’s at all times a problem for everybody. Relies upon a bit of bit too what sort of age you’re in. So the great factor is with me, over the previous — particularly in [the Kings’ AHL affiliate] Ontario — I at all times had faculty children coming in,” Sturm stated. “They’re faculty children they usually by no means performed towards males.
“So it’s at all times a problem. However, I didn’t see an issue as a result of I really feel like within the league usually, it’s a part of the sport now. … There’s so many guys now. It’s virtually prefer it’s a part of the sport now, having — this time of the 12 months — faculty children coming in.”
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