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

[MichaelFarrell]

Celebrini wasn't a player that did those things either, but was an extremely productive hockey player in all zones.

The overall product with Hagens is extremely strong. He essentially led the USHL in PPG last year and hadn't even reached his draft year while doing so (they don't really count the NTDP players in the official record, but if they did he was first). He's second in college hockey in assists this year in his draft year and when his shooting percentage normalizes will probably enter the Hobey Baker race. He set the U18 Worlds record for most points in a tournament. Set the U17 Worlds record for most points in a tournament the year prior to that.

And I get what you're trying to say, but a player like Cooley was just worse at basically everything other than spinning around in a pirouette like twice per game and maybe 1 out of 10 it would result in a great goal or assist.

Sometimes flashy isn't the name of the game. Watch Alex Barkov. Watch Adam Fox. Not saying he's what those guys are, but not every good player in hockey is McDavid or Makar or someone like that.

I get where you are coming from. But, Cooley was a much bigger factor on offense his freshman year and absolutely dominated games for the USNTDP.

I’m not just talking about flash or offensive flair. Celebrini absolutely had the qualities I’d look for in a first overall player. I knew from the first game I watched of Celebrini. I find if I’m looking for justifications to keep a player ranked high on my list, I’m just not sure if they should be there. That’s how I feel with Hagens right now. Smarter people than me disagree with that, but I just don’t know if I see 1st overall right now.

 

[FLAMESFAN]

Disappointed we don't get to see him compete against his peers in the prospect game, but looking forward to seeing him in the WJC in just over a month!

 

[Deep Blue Metallic]

I get where you are coming from. But, Cooley was a much bigger factor on offense his freshman year and absolutely dominated games for the USNTDP.

I’m not just talking about flash or offensive flair. Celebrini absolutely had the qualities I’d look for in a first overall player. I knew from the first game I watched of Celebrini. I find if I’m looking for justifications to keep a player ranked high on my list, I’m just not sure if they should be there. That’s how I feel with Hagens right now. Smarter people than me disagree with that, but I just don’t know if I see 1st overall right now.

I totally get what you're saying about Hagens. Just doesn't have that "it" factor. And yet he is the probable 2025 1OA. (Yes, I know Martone is at least in the conversation.)

Maybe that suggests a below average draft class.

 

[WarriorofTime]

Did everyone forget when he turned the U18s into his playground despite not having a great team around him? People are very overreactionary. People see he isn't 1st in the NCAA in scoring right now and freak out that means he's no good.

 

[Deep Blue Metallic]

Did everyone forget when he turned the U18s into his playground despite not having a great team around him? People are very overreactionary. People see he isn't 1st in the NCAA in scoring right now and freak out that means he's no good.

Talk about overreacting. Nobody is saying that.

 

[Just Linda]

Did everyone forget when he turned the U18s into his playground despite not having a great team around him? People are very overreactionary. People see he isn't 1st in the NCAA in scoring right now and freak out that means he's no good.

Or they watch the games and remember what players like Eichel, Celebrini, and Fantilli looked like.

Nobody said he isn't good either. I haven't seen anybody overreact either.

You made this entire post up.

 

[Deep Blue Metallic]

Or they watch the games and remember what players like Eichel, Celebrini, and Fantilli looked like.

Nobody said he isn't good either. I haven't seen anybody overreact either.

You made this entire post up.

Add Paul Kariya for us fossils.

 

[WarriorofTime]

Or they watch the games and remember what players like Eichel, Celebrini, and Fantilli looked like.

Nobody said he isn't good either. I haven't seen anybody overreact either.

You made this entire post up.

Stop overreacting to my post.

 

[Juxtaposer]

I'd really like to see him away from Leonard. Let Hagens really spread his wings and be the guy.

 

[Andy Dufresne]

Stop overreacting to my post.

Nobody said he's no good
Nobody thinks he's no good
People react to words
More news at 11

 

[montreal]

Hagens Assist 1:14
Hagens Rush/Shot 5:33
Hagens Shot 7:06
Hagens Baseball Swing 7:13
Hagens Assist 9:30

 

[montreal]

Hagens Pass 6:07
Hagens Rush/Shot 11:08

 

[Dominance]

Might as well put this here too, to stir up some friendly discussion about his possibly weakening grip on 1 OA. Note that I have watched zero live minutes of Hagens this year, am a notorious “hater,” etc.

Counterpoint to his low shooting percentage: Hagens is also arguably the third best player on his own line and a lot of his assists look to me like simple passes any 18 year old prospect could make to superior talents, while his only goal so far was on a play my mother could have finished.

Obviously we knew coming into this season and after watching Hagens demolish the U18s that his playmaking is elite, but these are the majority of the assists he has this year:







^ saw this posted in the Hagens thread as some kind of spectacular pass…Perrault was sitting wide open 40 feet away with no defenseman within 10 feet of him





[Tapped puck to Perrault for ENG on November 1]











TL;DR he’s collected almost all of his points on absolutely empty plays. Seriously, he has like one actually remotely impressive assist:

 

[Juxtaposer]

I want BC to separate Hagens from Leonard and Perreault. Let Hagens be the best player and primary puck carrier on his line. He's more than capable and I think he would develop better away from them, for the same reason I wanted Smith in the NHL even though I knew he would struggle this year.

 

[Dominance]

I want BC to separate Hagens from Leonard and Perreault. Let Hagens be the best player and primary puck carrier on his line. He's more than capable and I think he would develop better away from them, for the same reason I wanted Smith in the NHL even though I knew he would struggle this year.

It’s true that a strong counterargument to the “incredible linemates” critique is that some stars really do require a specific set of linemates to excel. Crosby is the perfect example - he’s always played his best with guys who play a hard, simple cycle-and-crash-the-net game, who he was never tempted to defer to.

 

[Juxtaposer]

It’s true that a strong counterargument to the “incredible linemates” critique is that some stars really do require a specific set of linemates to excel. Crosby is the perfect example - he’s always played his best with guys who play a hard, simple cycle-and-crash-the-net game, who he was never tempted to defer to.

Joe Thornton was another. I watched the Sharks struggle for years and years to find the right guy, only for it to be, very strangely, Joe Pavelski. Pavelski actually changed quite a bit when he went to Thornton's wing, totally re-invented his game to be something different and somehow better.

More than that, I just don't believe in having three guys who all function best with the puck on their stick for extended time all together on the same line. The Perreault-Smith-Leonard line worked because they all (some more than others) adapted their games to share the puck (some more than others). But I started to feel as the year went on, Smith was being a little too generous and sacrificing his own development for the sake of the line.

I don't feel like 17 year old James Hagens is going to play his best when he feels like he needs to defer all the time to 19 year old NCAA stars. Put him with Stiga and Gasseau IMO. He might end up with fewer total points, but I think he'll develop better and be more involved, leading to better overall play.

I love James Hagens and I loved watching him last season. I have not really enjoyed watching him this season, and that's a bummer.

 

[Wieters]

When discussing what is optimal for a prospect's development in the NCAA, it's worth remembering that college teams are trying to win games. It's not like many developmental leagues where teams are content to lose if it means boosting prospects' draft profiles or individual point totals. So tinkering with the lineup can't come at the expense of the team's overall production.

That being said, I do think there is an argument that the team would be better for splitting them up. I think Jellvik as center on the top line would result in less of +/- dropoff than you would gain from Hagens being on the second line. You could put a corpse in between Leonard/Perreault and they would still dominante, whereas the second line would get measurably better with Hagens on there with Stiga and Gasseau. BC has had the toughest schedule in college hockey so far, so maybe we do see Greg Brown toying with the lineup as it softens up here before the tournaments begin.

 

[Pavel Buchnevich]

I don’t think Hagens even plays that well with Perreault and Leonard, but it’s simply easy for a team that is trying to win to put their best players together on the ice as much as possible. Same argument for why you’ve seen Crosby and Malkin and McDavid and Draisaitl together for large stretches of their careers.

Perreault and Leonard have something special together along with Smith. Those three mix very well. Hagens doesn’t even look that comfortable with Perreault and Leonard. It’s not easy to play with two guys that have special chemistry and be the other guy that has to work with them and not screw it up. You play more tentative and defer more than you otherwise would to them.

Then again, obviously if he was playing on a second line with worse players he’d probably score a little less, so it’s a lose/lose where if he plays with the better players people will just claim he does better because he has better linemates and if he carries around worse players they’ll lament why his totals are worse.

And lastly, it’s also worth stating that Hagens hasn’t played with those two all year. Maybe 60% of the time. Most common linemates? Sure, but a settled line? Not exactly.