Boston Bruins
James Hagens might make his NHL debut as quickly as Saturday at TD Backyard.
The Bruins are calling their high prospect as much as the NHL ranks.
Boston introduced Wednesday afternoon that it has signed James Hagens to a three-year entry-level contract, which kicks in throughout this present 2025-26 season.
With three video games left within the common season, Hagens will now be part of Boston’s roster and look to present Marco Sturm’s membership a spark going into the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Hagens, 19, had performed six video games for the Windfall Bruins over the previous couple of weeks — signing an AHL novice tryout contract (ATO) with Boston’s AHL affiliate after his sophomore season at Boston Faculty got here to a detailed final month.
The expert ahead scored a power-play aim and added three assists in these six video games with Windfall, with Boston seeking to give him a while to acclimate to the professional ranks earlier than probably giving him a glance in opposition to NHL opponents.
“James believes in his talent set,” Don Sweeney said on March 24 after the forward signed his ATO. “Marco has even pointed it out, the velocity and talent that we establish can add to our lineup and complement our lineup, and we wish to. But it surely must be at a stage the place you’ll be able to belief a participant. And that’s what James goes to begin to undergo right here.”
Even when Hagens’s baseline stats could not leap off the web page, the seventh general decide within the 2025 NHL Draft did showcase his skating skill and playmaking capabilities throughout his two-plus weeks in Windfall — particularly throughout zone entries and on the facility play.
Talking over the week, Marco Sturm advised Kevin Paul Dupont of The Boston Globe that he’s been happy with what he’s seen from {the teenager}.
“I’ve been on this league and it’s a tough league,” Sturm mentioned. “It’s not simple for James, however he’s grinding away and attempting to determine how one can have success on this league, so it’s good, that’s why I prefer it. He’s not like different guys who wish to be within the NHL immediately. I like how James is dealing with it, will get to the minors, places within the work, and I really like him.”
“He’s enjoying in opposition to males now,” Sturm added. “It’s tougher. It’s tighter. I noticed him final week. We had a very good speak. No, it’s good for him. I have a look at the massive image and he’s in the suitable spot.”
With Boston rounding the ultimate stretch of the common season and the Bruins a near-lock for a return to the playoffs, Hagens’s evident offensive expertise ought to give Boston a elevate additional down on the depth chart.
Hagens’s lofty draft pedigree, high-end skillset, and manufacturing at BC (23 targets, 47 factors in 34 video games) will doubtless increase expectations for a creating prospect who shouldn’t be anticipated to function a late-season savior in Boston.
However even when Hagens doesn’t hit the ice working and stuff the stat sheet like fellow 19-year-old forward Porter Martone is doing with the Flyers, the previous Eagles standout does stand as an improve to the deck chairs that Sturm has been re-arranging over the previous couple of weeks.
Hagens is likely to be in line for some anticipated rising pains. However he additionally holds a a lot greater upside when in comparison with different wingers like Lukas Reichel, Alex Steeves, and Mikey Eyssimont — all of whom haven’t moved the needle additional down on the depth chart.
Reichel has scored only one level in his final eight video games, logging beneath a minute of ice time within the third interval of Thursday’s highway loss to the Panthers. Steeves solely had two shifts within the third interval of Tuesday’s loss to Carolina.
If that 3LW spot goes to be allotted to a winger averaging simply 11-14 minutes of ice time, it looks like a prudent transfer to present these reps to a prospect who figures to be in Boston’s long-term plans nicely past any of these different skaters.
Hagens might slot in on a number of completely different line combos transferring ahead.
His passing expertise and willingness to function in Grade-A ice might make him an intriguing participant to staple on a ahead grouping with Elias Lindholm and Morgan Geekie, who broke a 17-game goalless streak on Tuesday with a hat trick in opposition to the Hurricanes.
Rolling with that configuration would permit David Pastrnak to maneuver again to a line with Fraser Minten and Marat Khusnutdinov — with that “child line” outscoring opponents, 15-6, on the yr.
But when Sturm needs to maintain Pastrnak with Geekie transferring ahead, Hagens might slot in with a reworked third line that includes gamers like Minten, Khusnutdinov, Tanner Jeannot, and others.
Hagens’s creativity with the puck on his stick, in addition to his transition recreation, is also welcome sights on Boston’s lagging power-play unit.
As soon as a top-five special-teams group for a good portion of the 2025-26 marketing campaign, it has stagnated for the reason that NHL returned from the Olympic break.
Because the Milano-Cortina video games wrapped, Boston’s energy play is twenty seventh within the NHL — cashing in on simply 16.4 % of alternatives.
Hagens is likely to be a future top-six stalwart in Boston, however letting him lower his tooth on a third-line spot and PP2 project is likely to be the best touchdown spot the Bruins might have carved out for him — particularly with the postseason proper across the nook.
Hagens ought to have a snug runway to stand up to hurry along with his new linemates, as Boston has two practices scheduled for Thursday and Friday earlier than internet hosting the Lightning for a matinee recreation at TD Backyard on Saturday.
By signing his ELC, Hagens burns the primary yr of that contract immediately — getting him nearer to a brand new payday on the finish of the 2027-28 marketing campaign.
Hagens is now not eligible to play for Windfall within the Calder Cup playoffs, so if Boston’s season ends within the first spherical of the playoffs, he can’t then return to the P-Bruins and play out the string into Could in opposition to AHL competitors.
Even with these potential second-guesses, the Bruins would possibly worth giving Hagens a minimum of 5 to seven NHL playoff video games over 15-plus postseason bouts in opposition to AHL skaters.
And given the dearth of manufacturing at the moment on the NHL roster, a robust begin from Hagens might assist Boston prolong the season past many expectations — particularly if Hagens will get the third line and energy play rolling once more.
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