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

[Sasso09]

How special is he? Is he Matthews level good or are we expecting somebody better?

Wayyy better at the same age.

Hagens and Misa are as good or better than Bedard and Michkov

Hagens is a #1 overall caliber prospect and will be in that discussion in his draft year but he's just not in the same league size/strength wise with Matthews which is the main difference between the two. Great player with great skills though and seems to take his craft seriously.

Hagens is without a doubt a better prospect than Matthews was.. in the same draft same year (age) Matthews is lapped. If Hagens continues same pace he's Bedard or better

 

[Mathieukferland]

Wayyy better at the same age.

Hagens and Misa are as good or better than Bedard and Michkov


Hagens is without a doubt a better prospect than Matthews was.. in the same draft same year (age) Matthews is lapped. If Hagens continues same pace he's Bedard or better

Can’t tell if this is sarcasm or not

 

[sigx15]

Wayyy better at the same age.

Hagens and Misa are as good or better than Bedard and Michkov


Hagens is without a doubt a better prospect than Matthews was.. in the same draft same year (age) Matthews is lapped. If Hagens continues same pace he's Bedard or better

I think a lot of people forget Matthew’s literally broke his femur his U17 year and still played up on the U18 team the last 3rd of the year. The fact Matthews did what he did that year isn’t respected enough

 

[JiggsNY]

When is he eligible for a college commitment? Must be soon, or not yet being a late birthday?

 

[MTU34]

When is he eligible for a college commitment? Must be soon, or not yet being a late birthday?

August 1st

 

[clevelandcane]

August 1st

I'm hoping Michigan but some seem to think east coast with his brother.

 

[sigx15]

I'm hoping Michigan but some seem to think east coast with his brother.

I've heard the final 3 are Harvard, BC and Minnesota

 

[JiggsNY]

Here mentions BU, BC, Michigan. I hope he stays on the east coast, Michigan has been fun to watch, but every single top prospect doesn’t need to head there.

 

[William H Bonney]

Here mentions BU, BC, Michigan. I hope he stays on the east coast, Michigan has been fun to watch every single top prospect doesn’t need to head there.

Same. No need to leave the Northeast to play for a powerhouse.

 

[Whalers Fan]

Here mentions BU, BC, Michigan. I hope he stays on the east coast, Michigan has been fun to watch every single top prospect doesn’t need to head there.

Why not?

GO BLUE!

 

[Ryan Van Horne]

I think his edgework is elite, speed isn't elite yet, still has a little room for improvement in his stride. He's grown a ton in the past 2 years so I don't see his skating as a finished product yet. He has everything there to be an elite skater, just more of a matter of putting it together for me

I agree. The "putting it all together" will have to include added strength in legs and core. This is what will make the speed "pop" with the good stride and edgework he has.

 

[Jersey Fan 12]

Hamden, CT is a lot closer to Long Island. And the Bobcats are the defending national champions.

 

[Postulates]

if he decides on michigan i will have to hope for Misa to be the number 1 pick

 

[clevelandcane]

Go Blue, James.

 

[montreal]

 

[Sasso09]

All these comments about how great a prospect Matthews was are pretty funny. He wasn't a better prospect than Bedard, Michkov, Eiserman, Celebrini, Hagens or Misa (pace on the last 4 at same age)

He was essentially even with Fantilli and Eichel

 

[Pavel Buchnevich]

All these comments about how great a prospect Matthews was are pretty funny. He wasn't a better prospect than Bedard, Michkov, Eiserman, Celebrini, Hagens or Misa (pace on the last 4 at same age)

He was essentially even with Fantilli and Eichel

You are revising history significantly about Matthews and putting some recent prospects in a category they don’t belong.

 

[Kairi Zaide]

All these comments about how great a prospect Matthews was are pretty funny. He wasn't a better prospect than Bedard, Michkov, Eiserman, Celebrini, Hagens or Misa (pace on the last 4 at same age)

He was essentially even with Fantilli and Eichel

Bedard (Obviously) and Michkov, I can see the argument.

Matthews was ahead of Fantilli in their respective D-1 seasons (they're like 1 month apart respectively in age) - and honestly quite significantly ahead. While what Fantilli did this past season is impressive, what Matthews did in his own draft year was just more impressive. He is not even with Fantilli.

Eiserman and Celebrini are younger (relatively to their draft year) than Matthews was, so the comparisons are tougher. But with what Matthews did overall in the years leading up to his draft year, these two still have some work to do.

The only two that remain to be seen are Hagens and Misa (because Misa did match McDavid's production at the same age in the O, and Hagens is insane too - although while his production is higher I don't believe his game to be as complete as Matthews' was).

 

[Juxtaposer]

All these comments about how great a prospect Matthews was are pretty funny. He wasn't a better prospect than Bedard, Michkov, Eiserman, Celebrini, Hagens or Misa (pace on the last 4 at same age)

He was essentially even with Fantilli and Eichel

This is a stupid comment. Firstly, because Eiserman, Celebrini, Hagens, and Misa aren’t in the same echelon as Matthews was as a prospect, but mostly because of the premature labeling of those four as better prospects than Fantilli and Eichel.

 

[sigx15]

All these comments about how great a prospect Matthews was are pretty funny. He wasn't a better prospect than Bedard, Michkov, Eiserman, Celebrini, Hagens or Misa (pace on the last 4 at same age)

He was essentially even with Fantilli and Eichel

I don't think this is accurate. The Matthews situation was really unique for a couple reasons. He wasn't one of these kids who played for a big program his U16 year before the NTDP so his name wasn't out there the way a lot of these kids were. When he showed up to the NTDP camp, he dominated. Then his 2nd game with the NTDP, he broke his femur, had to have surgery to put hardware in his femur and came back 2 and a half months later. Then he came back and dominated the U17's for 2 months, was promoted to the U18's, dominated there

He didn't have the hype at a younger age because he didn't have the exposure the way a lot of these other kids did but there were definitely people already talking about how special he was at the NTDP camp and especially in the 2nd half of his first year in the NTDP. By his 2nd year in the NTDP, people were definitely raving about his game and what he was doing and considered him the favorite to be #1 in 2016

 

[William H Bonney]

I don't think this is accurate. The Matthews situation was really unique for a couple reasons. He wasn't one of these kids who played for a big program his U16 year before the NTDP so his name wasn't out there the way a lot of these kids were. When he showed up to the NTDP camp, he dominated. Then his 2nd game with the NTDP, he broke his femur, had to have surgery to put hardware in his femur and came back 2 and a half months later. Then he came back and dominated the U17's for 2 months, was promoted to the U18's, dominated there

He didn't have the hype at a younger age because he didn't have the exposure the way a lot of these other kids did but there were definitely people already talking about how special he was at the NTDP camp and especially in the 2nd half of his first year in the NTDP. By his 2nd year in the NTDP, people were definitely raving about his game and what he was doing and considered him the favorite to be #1 in 2016

This. So much this.

 

[mphmiles]

Matthews' draft stock also exploded after he scored almost 1.3 PPG in the Swiss league as an 18 year old. He had one of the most impressive draft year seasons in recent memory.

 

[francis246]

Matthews' draft stock also exploded after he scored almost 1.3 PPG in the Swiss league as an 18 year old. He had one of the most impressive draft year seasons in recent memory.

He also dominated at the world championships as a 17 year old that year and that also blew up his draft stock. Basically solidified him as the #1 pick.

 

[sigx15]

He also dominated at the world championships as a 17 year old that year and that also blew up his draft stock. Basically solidified him as the #1 pick.

He was already considered the consensus #1 pick way before that. By December/January of 2014/2015, he was looked at as almost a certain top 3 pick. By May/June of 2015 he basically had #1 locked. He dominated the U18s that year. He didn’t look out of place at the WJC as a 17 year old. By the time he was in Switzerland, it was basically unless he had a catastrophic injury, he was going #1. No one seriously had Laine or Puljujalrvi ahead of him the last 18 months before the draft

I don’t know why there’s so much revisionist history around Matthews, it’s weird. I encourage people to look back through HFboards threads from that time or look at early mock drafts or prospect rankings

 

[francis246]

He was already considered the consensus #1 pick way before that. By December/January of 2014/2015, he was looked at as almost a certain top 3 pick. By May/June of 2015 he basically had #1 locked. He dominated the U18s that year. He didn’t look out of place at the WJC as a 17 year old. By the time he was in Switzerland, it was basically unless he had a catastrophic injury, he was going #1. No one seriously had Laine or Puljujalrvi ahead of him the last 18 months before the draft

I don’t know why there’s so much revisionist history around Matthews, it’s weird. I encourage people to look back through HFboards threads from that time or look at early mock drafts or prospect rankings

I think it was still closer between Laine and Matthews up until the World Championships and we knew who was going to have the first overall pick. I’m a leafs fan, majority of fan base wanted Matthews but there was a group that felt Laine would be the better pick.