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

[CheckingLineCenter]

Season ended tonight, 11G 26A 37P in 37GP to end the year. For a variety of reasons, I think another year of going back to BC would be beneficial to him and his development

All things considered- very successful year of college hockey for him.

I hope he can be more dominant next year like he was in his D-1. Was too “quiet” in games too often relative to my expectations. I want to see him take over shifts way more. Was a big fan coming into the season and I’m less so now.

The problem with the comparison comes when you try and compare Hagens' performances as a December birthday to guys who played a year earlier as June or July birthdays. Ie trying to compare Hagens' U18 stats or U20 stats to Celebrini or Bedard but not considering that those two didn't play the U18 in their 17 year old seasons and played WJC as 17 year olds.

For sure- but it is easy to compare him to late bday NTDP guys in Eichel/Matthews/Kane and even a guy like Beniers. From solely a production standpoint he’s in the ballpark or better than all those guys in int’l play and at the NTDP.

 

[WarriorofTime]

PPG without a hot powerplay to ride stats on is a great season for a draft year prospect. So much negativity but whomever gets him is getting a great prospect.

 

[Juxtaposer]

All things considered- very successful year of college hockey for him.

I hope he can be more dominant next year like he was in his D-1. Was too “quiet” in games too often relative to my expectations. I want to see him take over shifts way more. Was a big fan coming into the season and I’m less so now.

For sure- but it is easy to compare him to late bday NTDP guys in Eichel/Matthews/Kane and even a guy like Beniers. From solely a production standpoint he’s in the ballpark or better than all those guys in int’l play and at the NTDP.

Yup. There is a reason that Hagens came into the season as the 1st overall favorite. As has been discussed as nauseam, the issue with Hagens is that the lack of meaningful progression in his 18 year old season feels like it limits his ultimate upside, not that anything he did with the NTDP or internationally is anything but elite.

 

[Pavel Buchnevich]

He wasn’t even top 3 on his own team at the world juniors

Are you serious?

Yes, you are right, he only had 2 less points than the tournament lead, but two teammates had one more point and another had two more points. He was ONLY the 1C for the gold medal winners, two points off the tournament scoring lead in his draft year (T7 in tournament scoring), and the leading draft eligible scorer.

Never mind he has the U17 Worlds points record, the U18 Worlds points record, and is the only player to ever win all U17, U18, and U20 Worlds before being drafted.

It’s sad how some of you refuse to give him any credit.

 

[AlternateSideParking]

Hey, you can take this to PMs if you want to get personal. And if you admit that you see the difference between Celebrini and Hagens now that most of us saw in November, good on you. It's just funny.

The difference is only in raw goals scored. Celebrini took 80 or so more shots. Part of that is his wingers werent two of the best prospects in hockey. Anyone who watched BC knows how unselfish Hagens is.

 

[Gurglesons]

Hagens gonna make a team very happy this draft.

Hopefully it isn't Boston.

 

[hohosaregood]

I don't really understand the consternation about people having him at 3. Like the faintest concern here is that he might not be the franchise player that rebuilder would want, but he'll probably be a good 1st liner.

 

[TLEH]

He’s going to be a solid player but the true upside is definitely a question mark for me. He feels like the same player he’s always been. I prefer Cooley as a prospect to him for example.

 

[TheDoldrums]

Are you serious?

Yes, you are right, he only had 2 less points than the tournament lead, but two teammates had one more point and another had two more points. He was ONLY the 1C for the gold medal winners, two points off the tournament scoring lead in his draft year (T7 in tournament scoring), and the leading draft eligible scorer.

Never mind he has the U17 Worlds points record, the U18 Worlds points record, and is the only player to ever win all U17, U18, and U20 Worlds before being drafted.

It’s sad how some of you refuse to give him any credit.

Scoffing at a generational label is not refusing to give him any credit. It’s simply chuckling at hyperbole.

 

[arider1990]

Hagens gonna make a team very happy this draft.

Hopefully it is Boston.

Fixed it for you.

 

[Larry44]

Are you serious?

Yes, you are right, he only had 2 less points than the tournament lead, but two teammates had one more point and another had two more points. He was ONLY the 1C for the gold medal winners, two points off the tournament scoring lead in his draft year (T7 in tournament scoring), and the leading draft eligible scorer.

Never mind he has the U17 Worlds points record, the U18 Worlds points record, and is the only player to ever win all U17, U18, and U20 Worlds before being drafted.

It’s sad how some of you refuse to give him any credit.

Please leave Hagens for the Flyers, we’ll take him at 5-7.

 

[Juxtaposer]

The difference is only in raw goals scored. Celebrini took 80 or so more shots. Part of that is his wingers werent two of the best prospects in hockey. Anyone who watched BC knows how unselfish Hagens is.

So Celebrini had 8 more assists in 1 more game than Hagens despite the fact that Hagens had two of the best prospects in hockey on his wing? Neat.

You say "the difference is only in raw goals scored" as if Celebrini didn't have literally 32 goals to Hagens' 11. Seems like a pretty big difference to me when one guy literally scores three times as many goals as the other. The fact that Hagens faded into the background (and was deliberately unselfish) when playing with Leonard and Perreault isn't exactly a point in his favor, especially since he didn't play any less unselfish or take charge any more when he played whole games separated from one or both of them.

As others have said, I don't see what's so insulting by saying Hagens is the third best prospect in this class. I still think he has a really high floor, and is a fantastic playmaker with great speed, solid defensive ability, and a good hockey brain. Guys like Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Mikael Granlund, Robert Thomas, and William Eklund come up when you look at guys hovering around one-third of Draisaitl's goal totals this year, and those players seem like good stylistic comparables for Hagens when it comes to size/skating/defensive play/playmaking over goalscoring. I would be happy to say Hagens' best outcome is something like Thomas, expected outcome is Nugent-Hopkins, and floor is Granlund. Great player, maybe a decent 1C on a bad team, not a franchise player. When a guy is hyped as a #1 overall pick on the level of Celebrini, you simply expect more than that. Hagens had a great season. He did not have a first overall caliber season.

 

[EbonyRaptor]

I like Hagens a lot - the only reason I don't want the Hawks to draft him (if Schaefer and Misa are off the board) is because the Hawks already have too many young players under 6' - Bedard, Nazar already in the NHL with Moore, Lardis, Kantserov in the pipeline. I'd take 6'3" Martone over Hagens - not because Martone is the better hockey player but because no team can ice a team of munshkins and expect to win in the playoffs.

 

[HomeNylander]

I like Hagens a lot - the only reason I don't want the Hawks to draft him (if Schaefer and Misa are off the board) is because the Hawks already have too many young players under 6' - Bedard, Nazar already in the NHL with Moore, Lardis, Kantserov in the pipeline. I'd take 6'3" Martone over Hagens - not because Martone is the better hockey player but because no team can ice a team of munshkins and expect to win in the playoffs.

Isn’t havens like 6’1/6’2?

Edit:nvm thought he was bigger than 5’11

 

[AlternateSideParking]

So Celebrini had 8 more assists in 1 more game than Hagens despite the fact that Hagens had two of the best prospects in hockey on his wing? Neat.

You say "the difference is only in raw goals scored" as if Celebrini didn't have literally 32 goals to Hagens' 11. Seems like a pretty big difference to me when one guy literally scores three times as many goals as the other. The fact that Hagens faded into the background (and was deliberately unselfish) when playing with Leonard and Perreault isn't exactly a point in his favor, especially since he didn't play any less unselfish or take charge any more when he played whole games separated from one or both of them.

As others have said, I don't see what's so insulting by saying Hagens is the third best prospect in this class. I still think he has a really high floor, and is a fantastic playmaker with great speed, solid defensive ability, and a good hockey brain. Guys like Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Mikael Granlund, Robert Thomas, and William Eklund come up when you look at guys hovering around one-third of Draisaitl's goal totals this year, and those players seem like good stylistic comparables for Hagens when it comes to size/skating/defensive play/playmaking over goalscoring. I would be happy to say Hagens' best outcome is something like Thomas, expected outcome is Nugent-Hopkins, and floor is Granlund. Great player, maybe a decent 1C on a bad team, not a franchise player. When a guy is hyped as a #1 overall pick on the level of Celebrini, you simply expect more than that. Hagens had a great season. He did not have a first overall caliber season.

Then name a forward who had a better draft season. And please don’t say Misa or Martone — two turnover machines facing the worst goaltending in all of junior hockey and were either scratched or cut by Team Canada.

You watching Misa’s wonderful playoff against Erie? You know, the one where Pano Fimis has been feeding him his lunch? I can give you a detailed recap if you were too busy (or cheap) to watch the games.

 

[Pavel Buchnevich]

Scoffing at a generational label is not refusing to give him any credit. It’s simply chuckling at hyperbole.

I said generational in international tournaments.

He leads 2 of the 3 prominent junior international tournaments in most points in a single tournament. I think that alone qualifies.

 

[Pavel Buchnevich]

People don't want to admit this because it's inconvenient to the narrative, but Hagens even strength scoring numbers and overall analytics are elite. There's nothing wrong with the season he had. People claiming he has lower potential are grasping at straws because they are poor at interpreting stats.

BC had a pathetic PP this year. Leonard and Perreault likewise did not score anywhere near what you would've expected for the same reason (and Leonard's stats are slightly padded because he has a unique talent for ENG's). Did they all get worse? Remember, this is the line that lit up the World Juniors, so a little hard to believe that.

This may be a shocker, but I'm going to believe the player who has been an elite player quite literally every setting for years didn't stop being that, and his point totals might've simply been a little unsustainably low due to his team's pathetic PP (as most of you should know, no player is going to have one of their best scoring seasons if their team's PP sucks).

 

[EbonyRaptor]

Isn’t havens like 6’1/6’2?

Edit:nvm thought he was bigger than 5’11

Not sure he's even 5'11". I'm thinking he's at best 5'10".

 

[Pavel Buchnevich]

BC has listed Hagens at 5'11 this year, which is up from the 5'10 he was listed at the NTDP. They listed this in September before he even turned 18.

Theoretically, he could be taller than 5'11. Males will often grow until age 18, and some even a little beyond that.

This will be solved at the draft combine, unless he chooses the Hughes brother route and doesn't measure in.

 

[shello]

BC has listed Hagens at 5'11 this year, which is up from the 5'10 he was listed at the NTDP. They listed this in September before he even turned 18.

Theoretically, he could be taller than 5'11. Males will often grow until age 18, and some even a little beyond that.

This will be solved at the draft combine, unless he chooses the Hughes brother route and doesn't measure in.

Not that Hagens will, but McDavid was drafted around 5’11/6’0 and is now 6’1

 

[Patty Ice]

Not that Hagens will, but McDavid was drafted around 5’11/6’0 and is now 6’1

I contend that even if he didn't, he would still be the dominant player that he is.

Putting a 6 in the front of his height didn't magically make him an even better player.

 

[Gurglesons]

I think the reality is Hagens just didn’t mesh with Leonard and Gabe.

It happens. He still had a very solid showing at the WJC and a solid season. Him dropping to 3 makes sense to me. Him dropping below 5 is an insane steal.

 

[Nipsey]

Don’t see true 1C upside but the kid is getting underrated. 60-70 2C is still excellent and a team like Nashville or Boston should be all over that.

 

[JotAlan]

What will happen is that Hagens will not be the #1 pick and it is possible that he will not even be a top 4 pick, and for me it will be one of the biggest steals of all time when he comes back and has one of the best D+1 seasons of all time in the NCAA. He screams elite and this year he was more of a pilot possibly trying to fit in with Leonard/Perreault that didn't work out. There is no way that both of them got worse compared to last year, so Hagens will once again show that he is the most talented player in this draft and everyone who passed on him will regret it.

 

[rsteen]

Fixed it for you.

I'm bracing myself for Boston to make an end of season run and put themselves drafting about 10th. If they stick at 6th I'd be very happy if Hagens falls to us.