F James Hagens - Boston College, NCAA (2025 Draft) Part 2

[newmanager]

Since this is the James Hagens thread, which NHL player is a good positive comparison for his projected game at the NHL level? I personally see Turcotte 2.0 and that's not very appealing for a top 1-3 (top 5?) pick. Here's a good player in a good environment playing good hockey, but where's that next gear?

Turcotte is a decent comparison but I see some Kent Johnson in him too.

 

[AlternateSideParking]

I like how I asked for anyone to name a better forward in this draft than Hagens, and the best we got is “watch Misa play”. Like I f***ing haven’t all season lol. I swear you guys must like living on a hamster wheel.

Misa is a turnover-prone passer for a projected first-overall pick and faces the weakest goaltending of all major or European junior leagues. It’s also his third full OHL season and was cut from Canada’s WJC team. He was disappointing in both games of the CHL-NTDP challenge and showed a lack of maturity when he was suspended for the Teddy Bear Toss incident.

Martone is a turnover-prone winger with below average speed who goes through droughts of ineffectiveness. It also is his third full OHL season. He was a healthy scratch at the WJC and his post-WJC production has dropped from 2.08 before to 1.46 through March 2. He has not consistently played like projected No. 1 pick for some time and could be playing himself out of the top five.

Frondell has had multiple injuries dating back to last year, including the knee. A potentially serious long-term concern. Other than that he’s been either dominant or snake-bitten.

Want me to go on? Eklund? Desnoyers? Bear? McQueen lol?

 

[landy92mack29]

Turcotte is a decent comparison but I see some Kent Johnson in him too.

Yeah Turcotte is who I'm getting the most of from Hagens. Best case he's a Clayton Keller level player but seeing more 50-60 pt secondary scorer

 

[AlternateSideParking]

It seems a contextual reminder is in order again re the WJC. There’s really not much there to hang his hat on.

• Hagens had 4G, 4A against Germany, Latvia, and Switzerland
• Hagens had 1G, 0A against Finland, Canada-B, Czechia, and Finland

Some additional contextual reminders are that Hagens led all 2025 draft-eligibles in WJC scoring while Misa and Frondell were on their couches, Schaefer was in the hospital, and Martone was a healthy scratch twice, including against Germany, which was the game after Canada choked against Latvia en route to another fifth-place finish. Hagens scored a tying goal in the GMG.

 

[eklund2chicago]

I like how I asked for anyone to name a better forward in this draft than Hagens, and the best we got is “watch Misa play”. Like I f***ing haven’t all season lol. I swear you guys must like living on a hamster wheel.

Misa is a turnover-prone passer for a projected first-overall pick and faces the weakest goaltending of all major or European junior leagues. It’s also his third full OHL season and was cut from Canada’s WJC team. He was disappointing in both games of the CHL-NTDP challenge and showed a lack of maturity when he was suspended for the Teddy Bear Toss incident.

Martone is a turnover-prone winger with below average speed who goes through droughts of ineffectiveness. It also is his third full OHL season. He was a healthy scratch at the WJC and his post-WJC production has dropped from 2.08 before to 1.46 through March 2. He has not consistently played like projected No. 1 pick for some time and could be playing himself out of the top five.

Frondell has had multiple injuries dating back to last year, including the knee. A potentially serious long-term concern. Other than that he’s been either dominant or snake-bitten.

Want me to go on? Eklund? Desnoyers? Bear? McQueen lol?

Let’s ignore that Misa has the most goals as a draft eligible in the OHL since Eric Lindros.

And that Frondell has the best point per game ever for an u18 player in Hockeyallsvenskan while playing 13 minutes a night.

 

[AlternateSideParking]

Let’s ignore that Misa has the most goals as a draft eligible in the OHL since Eric Lindros.

And that Frondell has the best point per game ever for an u18 player in Hockeyallsvenskan while playing 13 minutes a night.

You’ve missed the point entirely. All 2025 draft prospects have pros and cons. There is no standalone top forward. It’s just one of those years. Maybe ask Central Scouting and McKenzie’s scouts why they keep favoring Hagens over the other forwards.

 

[newmanager]

Earlier someone mentioned Hagens being the top freshman in the nation. Well that's not entirely true when it comes to offensive production at least.

Pretty straight forward charts....the title for each chart outlines the criteria. Only exception is Cullen Potter who is a 2007 birthday.

 

[Boss Man Hughes]

Some additional contextual reminders are that Hagens led all 2025 draft-eligibles in WJC scoring while Misa and Frondell were on their couches, Schaefer was in the hospital, and Martone was a healthy scratch twice, including against Germany, which was the game after Canada choked against Latvia en route to another fifth-place finish. Hagens scored a tying goal in the GMG.

That tells nothing. Canada management and coaches were complete morons and Scaheafer was hurt. nothing to see here.

 

[Pavel Buchnevich]

Oh yeah right, you want me to believe Hagens is worse than Max Plante.

Luckily, I have eyes. Nice deceiving chart where you compare him to a group of players 90% of which are a draft ahead of him. Very fair and reasonable. And yes, he is the best freshman in the nation. I'll go with my eyes and you can take your chart and Max Plante.

What a dishonest argument.

 

[WhiskeyYerTheDevils]

It seems a contextual reminder is in order again re the WJC. There’s really not much there to hang his hat on.

• Hagens had 4G, 4A against Germany, Latvia, and Switzerland
• Hagens had 1G, 0A against Finland, Canada-B, Czechia, and Finland

Lol the insecurity here is hilarious.

And it's not like Latvia and Germany were weak teams. Latvia beat Canada lol.

 

[Andy Dufresne]

Oh yeah right, you want me to believe Hagens is worse than Max Plante.

Luckily, I have eyes. Nice deceiving chart where you compare him to a group of players 90% of which are a draft ahead of him. Very fair and reasonable. And yes, he is the best freshman in the nation. I'll go with my eyes and you can take your chart and Max Plante.

What a dishonest argument.

A far more dishonest argument is the one you're making. Where we can only compare Hagens with other undrafted ncaa players. That's 9 other guys, and a bunch of players who have gone undrafted at least once.
WOW- Hagens is #1! (out of 10)
Yeah as far as Ncaa freshman- I've got Hutson as #1, if he'd stop taking so many dumbass penalties he'd be my #1 by a wide margin. He was also better than Hagens in the wjc.

 

[Pavel Buchnevich]

A far more dishonest argument is the one you're making. Where we can only compare Hagens with other undrafted ncaa players. That's 9 other guys, and a bunch of players who have gone undrafted at least once.
WOW- Hagens is #1! (out of 10)
Yeah as far as Ncaa freshman- I've got Hutson as #1, if he'd stop taking so many dumbass penalties he'd be my #1 by a wide margin. He was also better than Hagens in the wjc.

Hagens isn't the best freshman, despite having the most points and the best prior pedigree. Anything to not give him credit.

 

[Andy Dufresne]

Hagens isn't the best freshman, despite having the most points and the best prior pedigree. Anything to not give him credit.

Maybe you're just trolling at this point?
He has the same amount of points as both Hage and Hutson (33)
He's played 2 more games than both Hage and Hutson (33 vs 31)
Cole Hutson is a defenceman (just in case anyone was unaware)

 

[Pavel Buchnevich]

Maybe you're just trolling at this point?
He has the same amount of points as both Hage and Hutson (33)
He's played 2 more games than both Hage and Hutson (33 vs 31)
Cole Hutson is a defenceman (just in case anyone was unaware)

Hutson has a "0" and Hagens has a +20.

But yes, "I'm" the one who is trolling. I'm sure you back Lane for the Calder over Celebrini, right?

And it's hilarious to see people like you now advocating for Hutson in huge hindsight. I wonder why? Where did you rank him, if you don't mind me asking? I was basically the only one who got his draft slot right.

As to Hage, he's at a -6. That's second worst on his own team.

Do you feel like you can say one positive thing about Hagens? We're told it's not some coordinated attempt, but almost all the Canadians just incessantly come into this thread and attack Hagens. It's hard not to believe the evidence right in front of us.

 

[Andy Dufresne]

@Pavel
Ahh, I see, by points I thought you meant Hagens leads all freshman in goals + assists. Didn't realize you were referring to +- points.
Hagens is a very good passer. Maybe tops in the draft. That's very positive.

 

[newmanager]

So one of the excuses Hagens supporters keep regurgitating is how tough his schedule is this year when it comes to explaining his low production. Unprecedented is what some called it. Take a deep dive into it and it's a whole different story.

Hagens has played 33 games this year.

He's played 14 total games against 7 teams with losing records.
They were St Cloud State 13-18-1, Merrimack 13-18-1, American International School 12-21-2, Northeastern 11-18-3, Harvard 11-15-3, New Hampshire 11-15-6 and Vermont 11-18-3.
Those 14 games played represent 42% of his games played this year.
He managed to get 14 total points in those 14 games against those extra weak opponents.

He's also played 4 games against 2 middle of the road opponents this year.
They were Dartmouth 15-12-2 and Mass-Lowell 15-13-4.
He scored 6 points in those 4 games.

The other 15 games were against 7 teams with winning records. So 45% of his games were against teams with winning records.
They were Michigan State 24-6-4, Western Michigan 24-7-1, Maine 21-6-5, Providence 20-8-5, U Conn 19-10-4, Boston University 19-12-2 and U Mass 18-12-4.
He was able to muster 13 points in 15 games against those 7 opponents.


Lets compare his quality of opponents to Michael Hage who is also a freshman and shares the 2006 birth year with Hagens.

Hage has played 31 games this year.

He's played 10 games against 3 teams with losing records this year.
They were St Cloud State 13-18-1, Wisconsin 12-19-3 and Notre Dame 10-23-1.
Only 33% of his opponents had losing records.
He scored 7 points in those 10 games.

He's played 21 games against 8 teams with winning records. So 67% of his games were against teams with winning records.
They were Western Michigan 24-7-1, Michigan State 24-6-4, Minnesota 24-8-4, Minnesota State 23-8-3, Ohio State 21-11-2, Arizona State 19-13-2, Boston University 19-12-2 and Penn State 18-12-4.
Hage scored 26 points in those 21 games against teams with winning records.

So it looks like not only did Michael Hage have a tougher schedule (67%) than James Hagens (45%) but he also outscored Hagens during those games. Hage had a 1.24 ppg while Hagens was at 0.87 ppg against those tougher opponents with the winning records.

Michael Hage is the first and only guy I looked at so there's no doubt many many other players that have had a harder schedule this year than James Hagens has.

Conclusion: We can turf the tough schedule excuse.

 

[Pavel Buchnevich]

Michael Hage is the first and only guy I looked at so there's no doubt many many other players that have had a harder schedule this year than James Hagens has.

Conclusion: We can turf the tough schedule excuse.

Holy desperate grasping at straws.

You know that this stuff is actually measured, and you don't need to come up with your own formula to try to attack Hagens?

BC has had the toughest Strength of Schedule all year until recently. They've fallen to - wait for it - second strongest in the nation (I know, gasp) because they've played a few unranked teams recently and Michigan has played 6 top 8 teams in a row the last couple of weeks.

The idea BC has not played a ridiculously tough SOS is a myth.

16 of 33 games have been against top 11 teams. Zeev Buium has played 4 of 33 games against top 11 teams. Maybe you don't know this, but NCAA scheduling isn't equal. BC have demonstrably played a ridiculously difficult schedule all year. Dropping to second toughest for a week doesn't change that.

The people that are squarely against this player are so transparent at this point. It's become sad how much disdain there is from a select group of people.

 

[AlternateSideParking]

So one of the excuses Hagens supporters keep regurgitating is how tough his schedule is this year when it comes to explaining his low production. Unprecedented is what some called it. Take a deep dive into it and it's a whole different story.

Hagens has played 33 games this year.

He's played 14 total games against 7 teams with losing records.
They were St Cloud State 13-18-1, Merrimack 13-18-1, American International School 12-21-2, Northeastern 11-18-3, Harvard 11-15-3, New Hampshire 11-15-6 and Vermont 11-18-3.
Those 14 games played represent 42% of his games played this year.
He managed to get 14 total points in those 14 games against those extra weak opponents.

He's also played 4 games against 2 middle of the road opponents this year.
They were Dartmouth 15-12-2 and Mass-Lowell 15-13-4.
He scored 6 points in those 4 games.

The other 15 games were against 7 teams with winning records. So 45% of his games were against teams with winning records.
They were Michigan State 24-6-4, Western Michigan 24-7-1, Maine 21-6-5, Providence 20-8-5, U Conn 19-10-4, Boston University 19-12-2 and U Mass 18-12-4.
He was able to muster 13 points in 15 games against those 7 opponents.


Lets compare his quality of opponents to Michael Hage who is also a freshman and shares the 2006 birth year with Hagens.

Hage has played 31 games this year.

He's played 10 games against 3 teams with losing records this year.
They were St Cloud State 13-18-1, Wisconsin 12-19-3 and Notre Dame 10-23-1.
Only 33% of his opponents had losing records.
He scored 7 points in those 10 games.

He's played 21 games against 8 teams with winning records. So 67% of his games were against teams with winning records.
They were Western Michigan 24-7-1, Michigan State 24-6-4, Minnesota 24-8-4, Minnesota State 23-8-3, Ohio State 21-11-2, Arizona State 19-13-2, Boston University 19-12-2 and Penn State 18-12-4.
Hage scored 26 points in those 21 games against teams with winning records.

So it looks like not only did Michael Hage have a tougher schedule (67%) than James Hagens (45%) but he also outscored Hagens during those games. Hage had a 1.24 ppg while Hagens was at 0.87 ppg against those tougher opponents with the winning records.

Michael Hage is the first and only guy I looked at so there's no doubt many many other players that have had a harder schedule this year than James Hagens has.

Conclusion: We can turf the tough schedule excuse.

Conclusion: Hage was drafted last year. Sorry you were late to that party.

 

[AlternateSideParking]

That tells nothing. Canada management and coaches were complete morons and Scaheafer was hurt. nothing to see here.

Sounds more like a Canada problem instead of a Hagens problem, if we’re being honest.

 

[Kingpin794]

The people that are squarely against this player are so transparent at this point. It's become sad how much disdain there is from a select group of people.

You have already been told this but

No one is “against” Hagens. That such a childish view. We believe that your logic and reasoning are extremely flawed. We are against your arguments because they don’t hold up. Get better arguments for Hagens and maybe it won’t seem like people are attacking Hagens.

 

[Corso]

You have already been told this but

No one is “against” Hagens. That such a childish view. We believe that your logic and reasoning are extremely flawed. We are against your arguments because they don’t hold up. Get better arguments for Hagens and maybe it won’t seem like people are attacking Hagens.

I really think Hagens performance is yet another case of (unrealized) expectations. He has been, for a true freshman, a good player but perhaps some of us were expecting close to a Celebrini type performance and the disappointment began to set in when he wasn't going to deliver.

I still believe that he processes the game better than Misa, but I can totally understand why he would go behind Misa as the second-best forward in this draft.

 

[Kingpin794]

I really think Hagens performance is yet another case of (unrealized) expectations. He has been, for a true freshman, a good player but perhaps some of us were expecting close to a Celebrini type performance and the disappointment began to set in when he wasn't going to deliver.

I still believe that he processes the game better than Misa, but I can totally understand why he would go behind Misa as the second-best forward in this draft.

I think that's fair. Hagens is getting a bit of the Shane Wright treatment. He's had eyes on him for so long that people get this idea in their head of what he is supposed to be while ignoring what he actually is. I wouldn't bat an eye if he was the first forward taken in this draft. It's likely going to come down to preference. If you have a trigger man in your system but could use a master setup player? Hagens would work great.

 

[AlternateSideParking]

You have already been told this but

No one is “against” Hagens. That such a childish view. We believe that your logic and reasoning are extremely flawed. We are against your arguments because they don’t hold up. Get better arguments for Hagens and maybe it won’t seem like people are attacking Hagens.

I mean, let’s be fair here. You have people in this thread comparing his production vs draft+1’s, marginalizing one of the best WJC performances we’ve seen in recent years by a FYE, and lying through their teeth that he’s bad defensively.

At the end of the day, we’re talking about a point-per-game freshman for the Frozen Four favorite in one of the toughest circuits a draft-year prospect can play in, Europe included. And that’s after a draft-1 season in which he joined NTDP elite with a 100-point effort and broke Kucherov’s U18 WC record. OK, so he’s not reaching the 1.75 points-per-game we expected. That’s more on us, not on Hagens.

Anyone bashing Hagens would be over the moon if their own team’s draft+1 prospect hit a point per game in both college and at the WJC. This kid’s doing it at 18, yet the best NHL comp people can come up with is a multi-concussed Alex Turcotte and his 24 points in 85 games???? Please.

Ignorant shit, if you asked me.

 

[newmanager]

Conclusion: Hage was drafted last year. Sorry you were late to that party.

Get with the program.
We're discussing strength of opponents.
A person's draft status does not....I repeat DOES NOT change the difficulty of a team's schedule.
The same people keep parroting how much harder Boston College's schedule is than everyone else. Well with one quick glance I showed that Michigan had a much tougher schedule. And now the excuse changes to "but but but well then they have the 2nd toughest schedule". I bet if I look again I'd find more teams with harder schedules than BC.

 

[AlternateSideParking]

Get with the program.
We're discussing strength of opponents.
A person's draft status does not....I repeat DOES NOT change the difficulty of a team's schedule.
The same people keep parroting how much harder Boston College's schedule is than everyone else. Well with one quick glance I showed that Michigan had a much tougher schedule. And now the excuse changes to "but but but well then they have the 2nd toughest schedule". I bet if I look again I'd find more teams with harder schedules than BC.

You’re comparing apples to oranges. Hagens’ cohort is first-year eligibles in the NCAA. The player you mentioned is older by a full development season and already under NHL dev staff mentorship.

According to CHN, BC has the second toughest strength of schedule in the nation. It was No. 1 for most of the season until recently. That’s out of 60+ programs.