James Hagens is thriving in a surprising role for Bruins

In the Bruins' 6-4 win over San Jose Saturday night, James Hagens' impact was easy to see just by looking at the box score. He had a goal and an assist, helping to set up Boston's first goal of the game and then scoring a massive goal midway through the third period to put the Bruins up 4-3.

Hagens' offense alone would make the first month of his rookie season an impressive one. The 19-year-old (he turns 20 next week) is tied for the NHL rookie lead in both points (9) and goals (4) through 12 games.

But what makes Hagens' start to this season even more impressive is how he's scoring, the role he's playing while doing it, and the impact he's making at the other end of the ice as well.

How he's scoring: Hagens is going to the dirty areas, the areas you might not expect a 5-foot-11, 186-pound, 19-year-old skill player to want or be able to get to. Look at his goal Saturday. Linemate Elias Lindholm got denied right in front, but Hagens beat three Sharks to the rebound and banged it home.

Look at his assist, too. Hagens and linemate Casey Mittelstadt were jamming away in front earlier in the shift and somehow didn't quite score. But they stuck with it, Hagens got two more chances, and then he won a battle to free up the puck to Lindholm, who slid it over towards Mittelstadt for the finish.

Three of Hagens' four goals this season have come from right on top of the crease. The other one was actually from behind the net on a bank shot. Hagens has the ability to score from distance with the shot he possesses, and at some point he'll start doing that. But in the meantime, he's showing an ability and a desire to get his hands dirty.

"That was something right away we noticed, this is not college anymore," Bruins coach Marco Sturm said. "I know he probably scored 80, 90 percent where [Leon] Draisaitl scores in college, but not in this league. So, I think he realized pretty soon, and we're pushing him pretty hard, getting more to the paint, more to the inside. That's where you score the goals. So good for him that he realized that. And look at his four goals he scored, right? So good for him by just listening and also take it really seriously."

The role he's playing: Hagens is playing on the third line with Lindholm and Mittelstadt, a line that Sturm is increasingly coming to trust with matchups against opponents' top lines. They faced arguably their toughest test yet on Saturday, when Sturm put them out against San Jose's top line of Macklin Celebrini, Will Smith and Collin Graf for the opening shift of the game and for most of their 5-on-5 shifts the rest of the night.

Hagens and his linemates passed that test with flying colors. In their 7:16 of 5-on-5 ice time going head-to-head with Celebrini, the Bruins held advantages of 16-5 in shot attempts, 9-3 in shots on goal, 10-2 in high-danger chances, and 2-0 in goals.

This wasn't new. On Thursday, they got 10:00 of ice time against Nashville's top line of Filip Forsberg, Ryan O'Reilly and Steven Stamkos, and shut them down. On Tuesday in Dallas, they saw more of the Stars' top line of Wyatt Johnston, Mikko Rantanen and Sam Steel than anyone else, and didn't allow a goal.

This isn't the kind of role coaches usually throw teenage top-10 picks into. Usually, those players get sheltered. Coaches try to get them out against bottom-six forwards and third-pairing defensemen. They give them a bunch of offensive-zone starts. Hagens has started more shifts in the defensive zone than the offensive zone this season, and he's embracing every second of it.

"It's special," Hagens said of his surprising usage. "It's a great feeling to be able to be out there and trying to stop those guys from scoring. You want to do your best and you want to win games, and if that's your role, then you gotta be able to go out there and do it. So, it's definitely cool. These players I grew up watching, and especially last year being in college, I was watching these guys. Now you're out there trying to stop them all night long."

His impact in the defensive zone: Maybe you've seen the stat by now, but it's worth repeating. Hagens leads all NHL forwards in blocks with 16. Not rookie forwards. All forwards, period. And he isn't even on the penalty kill, where other leaders in the category take on more of a classic shot-blocking role.

Again, it's just another thing no one would have really expected to see, including Hagens himself.

"I didn't," Hagens said with a laugh Saturday morning when asked if he saw this coming. "You know, it's definitely something that I try to take pride in. It's just the D-zone, and when a guy's getting ready to shoot, if that's your guy, you gotta make sure that you're in the shot lane."

Both offensively and in terms of two-way impact, Hagens' rookie season is off to a heck of a start. The Bruins have to be thrilled. And if Hagens can keep this up, he could be a strong contender for the Calder Trophy for rookie of the year, an award that hasn't been won by a Bruin since Andrew Raycroft in 2004.