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

WarriorofTime

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Jul 3, 2010
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Almost as if the people claiming he’d shoot 2.6% the whole season ended up being wrong and not understanding how this stuff tends to work.
I notice a lot of the Hagens Haters (nice ring to it) speak in weird generalities. "He doesn't wow me, he doesn't scream first overall pick". Lot of empty platitudes that mean nothing. I like all of the Top 4 this year.
 
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Wieters

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Mar 2, 2024
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Chase Allen just published a ranking of the 2025 forward class based on a model that considers advanced analytics from this season only. Hagens was comfortably in first (Martone is second and Misa is fourth).

Generally:
He is heads-and-away above the rest regarding his playmaking abilities. He drives play with plenty of pass attempts, having dozens upon dozens of puck touches in any given game, he is seemingly always open, and always can wiggle his way around from pressure to give him time and space to make a play. He’s been shown to be one of the top players in the database to this point at elevating his teammates, seen through his shot assist metric, along with dangerous shot assists. He has nearly perfected the art of executing both the simple play to keep play alive, spread around the love, along with execute those dazzling, high-end pass attempts that lead to highlight reel goals. It is incredibly rare you see Hagens make an egregious error with the puck, always calm, cool, and controlled. In transition his evasive nature and strong base of skating abilities makes him tough to slow down and contain, he’s had no issues adjusting to the pace at the NCAA level, and frankly, has been one of the top players in the games tracked at carrying the puck and elevating the pace of play by challenging the middle, even commanding it at times with bold inside moves in stride. Defensively he’s played a great 200-foot game, in his own end he mans his assignments well, shadows puck carriers with great detail and is always aware of potential backdoor or centering efforts. His intelligence and timely nature rubs off in both the offensive zone and defensive zone, along with when working his way through the neutral zone as he processes his options.
On scoring:
Scoring at the NCAA has certainly been a struggle to this point, this is apparent on both the box score and the deeper numbers, although, not for a lack of ability, more so a stylistic play. He’s been leaning heavily to moving the puck and making plays early in the season, and you would definitely like to see greater production, but the adaptation to less time-and-space between the dots and in those prime scoring locations has been something for Hagens to get used to. We know the shot he owns; he has shown his quick release and ability to get it off here-and-there, but nothing quite to the degree you may have expected.
I am confident that NHL front offices are relying on advanced metrics and not the considerations referenced by posters here like goals scored and whether a player passes the eye test for having the "it" factor.

And if this model is anything to go by, then Hagens is still performing at the highest level currently and is not simply resting on the laurels of his performance with the NTDP as some seem to believe to be the case. But he does also have that, which is even more of a reason to believe he is still likely the top prospect on NHL draft boards.
 

saintunspecified

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Nov 30, 2017
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I notice a lot of the Hagens Haters (nice ring to it) speak in weird generalities. "He doesn't wow me, he doesn't scream first overall pick". Lot of empty platitudes that mean nothing. I like all of the Top 4 this year.

Logan Cooley probably should have been the top player chosen in the 2022 draft. But the ordinary sized very good athlete who is skilled, but whose top skill is 'instinctual AND learns quickly' doesn't wow.

Not the same position, but much the same was true with Quinn Hughes. He should have been drafted no lower than 3rd overall. (I mean he should have been drafted no lower than 3rd given information available at the draft. I thought that then. I didn't know he'd be a 90 point player, but I felt really confident he was going to be better than those drafted 3-6).

I think Hagens has upside that is much higher than Cooley's, and is comparable to Quinn Hughes. The elusiveness, calm, and mental processing speed are obvious points of similarity.

I don't think this necessarily shows bias against American players. But it does seem possible USNT seems to be doing a good job developing this specific kind of player, and that factor hasn't been fully appreciated.

And the criticisms of Hagens are the same sorts of things that would/did apply to Cooley and Hughes, which imo led to them being underrated.
 

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