James Hagens began his freshman season at Boston College as the presumptive No. 1 overall pick in the 2025 NHL Draft. With said draft now just a month away, the center is not expected to go in the top two. Falling all the way to the Bruins at seven remains unlikely, but would not be completely shocking given how volatile picks three through eight or nine remain in the eyes of a lot of scouts and analysts.
In and of itself, Hagens’ slide – even if it only ends up being a couple spots – could be seen as a disappointment. Obviously, something changed between October and now. A great couple months pre-injury from defenseman Matthew Schaefer (the projected No. 1 pick) and a great season from center Michael Misa (projected No. 2) are part of it, but Hagens’ own draft year has also been used against him.
Hagens had a point per game for the Eagles – 37 points in 37 games. By just about any standard, that is really good, especially for an 18-year-old freshman. Hagens himself doesn’t shy away from the fact that the was proud of the season he had.
“I thought I had a great season,” Hagens said Tuesday on a Zoom call with a group of reporters.
He did, but “potential first overall pick in the NHL Draft” is a different standard than most. It’s really only by that standard that some questions about Hagens’ production arise. His point-per-game scoring rate comes up short when compared to recent draft-eligible NCAA freshman stars like Macklin Celebrini (1.68 points per game), Jack Eichel (1.78) or Adam Fantilli (1.81), all of whom wound up being top-three picks.
It is more in line with players like Matty Beniers (2nd overall in 2021) and Kent Johnson (5th overall in 2021), both of whom are rounding into nice NHL players, but required a little more developmental patience.
Hagens believes that whatever challenges he faced, and however they affected his draft stock, are only going to help him in the long run.
“You're playing against guys that are 25, 24 years old every night,” Hagens said. “It's tough, it's hard hockey, but I'm super grateful to be able to have the year that I was able to have with the group of guys that we did have, those guys that were able to sign and move on. Just seeing all the great things they're doing now and being with them throughout the year, it was special. This year went really well, coming in right away and learning how to adapt to the pace of play and the structure of a college-level game. It was something that really helped me and helped my game out.”
Hagens is right about the level of competition. Playing college hockey against older, more physically mature competition is more of a challenge for an 18-year-old than playing Canadian major juniors against other teenagers. It’s why you’re going to start to see more top prospects jump from the CHL to the NCAA either in their draft-eligible season or the year after getting drafted now that players from the QMJHL, OHL and WHL are eligible to play college hockey – a recent change that has and will continue to shake up the amateur hockey world.
Hagens could have put up more points had he gone to the OHL, but says that was never a serious consideration for him, even if the rules around CHL/NCAA eligibility had been clearer a year or two earlier. He said he has not yet made a final decision about returning to BC for his sophomore season, as whichever team drafts him will have a say in that.
“The way I kind of thought about it was, I already played junior hockey [with the U.S. Development Program],” Hagens said. “I played two years of it. I think I was able to show the stats and the points, if people want to look at that, when I played junior hockey. I just, I already did it. I wanted to move on. I wanted to be challenged at the college level, I wanted to join Boston College, and I wanted to be pushed every day playing against guys that are older and stronger and that'll push you and get you ready for the NHL. So, that was a big factor in my decision on why I went to Boston College. I knew that it would be the best step in getting me ready.”
The stats and the points are, in fact, there when you look at Hagens’ entire resume and not just this past season at BC. In 2023-24, he had 102 points in 58 games with the U.S. Under-18 Team, a rate of production that has only been eclipsed by Jack Hughes, Will Smith, Gabe Perreault, Auston Matthews and Phil Kessel. He was the No. 1 center and top forward in ice time as an under-ager for the U.S. team that won gold at World Juniors this year. At the 2024 World U18 Championships, he broke Nikita Kucherov’s record for points in a tournament. The year before, he broke the World U-17 Hockey Challenge record for points in a tournament.
As Hagens prepares for the NHL Draft Combine in Buffalo next week, the number one thing he wants to convey to the teams that interview him is that he welcomes a challenge and is determined to overcome any and all odds – whether that’s where he decides to play as an 18-year-old or how he competes as a 5-foot-11, 177-pound player against bigger, stronger opponents.
“I'm just trying to explain just how high my compete level is at the combine,” Hagens said. “I’m getting ready to show that with all the tests. I love winning. I will do anything to win. Something that's helped me get to the point where I am today is just how hard I've been able to work my whole life. Nothing's ever come easy. I've had to work for everything that I've ever gotten before, and that's something I'm super grateful for. That's something that's just within my family, something that I was raised up, taught from my parents and my coaches. So, going into those meetings just really expressing how hard I compete, and how badly I want to be on a team and hopefully win a Stanley Cup one day.”
Hagens’ compete level on the ice will go a long way towards determining how successful he ends up being as a pro. His high-end skating and playmaking are easy to see with just a couple viewings. Having watched Hagens quite a bit this season, I think he is more of a battler than some give him credit for. But some scouts do want to see more, especially when it comes to getting inside to higher-danger scoring areas. Whether he’ll able to consistently win battles in the NHL is a question he’ll face.
“It doesn't really matter how big a guy is or how fast he is. I think when it comes down to those 50/50 battles and whatnot, it’s how badly you want it,” Hagens said. “That's just the honest truth. You see guys in the NHL that are some of the smallest guys in the league and they compete every single night and they make great plays and they win puck battles. So, learning that at the college level – alright, you might be a little smaller than the guy you're going in the corner with, but you better give your all, because if someone just thinks they're winning a puck battle because the guy is smaller than them, then it's a lot different.”
Hagens cited Patrick Kane, Jack Hughes and Logan Cooley as players around his size that he has watched closely and taken things from to incorporate into his own game. He also mentioned John Tavares as an example of the kind of two-way center he wants to be.
The Tavares mention is not surprising given that Hagens grew up an Islanders fan on Long Island. Those Islanders now have the No. 1 overall pick this year, and could surprise everyone by taking Hagens, the hometown kid. If they don’t, Hagens could potentially go to Kane’s former team (Chicago) at three, or Cooley’s current team (Utah) at four. Nashville at five and Philadelphia at six could both use center help.
Again, dropping all the way to the Bruins at seven seems unlikely. But if that were to happen, Hagens wouldn’t exactly be upset about remaining in Boston for the foreseeable future.
“I love Boston,” Hagens said. “Obviously being at Boston College, I’m right in the middle of Boston there. It's a beautiful city. Only great things to say about it, and I love it there.”