The dream for James Hagens is still very much to play for the Boston Bruins one day.
But right now, it is a dream deferred, at least for the length of the college hockey season. And the 18-year-old Hagens doesn’t seem the least bit crestfallen at going back to Boston College for another season.
Hagens has been skating at Warrior Ice Arena this week with some Bruins players. On Thursday, he chatted with the Herald about going back to the Heights this season.
“It was kind of a decision I made by talking with my family and the staff here,” said Hagens. “I think there’s a lot of unfinished business, if you look at it that way. It’s a great opportunity. It’s exciting and I’ll be able to play with my brother (Michael, a defenseman), so to be able to be there, be with him, it’s such a great school and to be a part of the group we have there, it’s tough to not want to go back.”
The idea that Hagens would head back to BC for the 2025-26 season is hardly a surprise. B’s GM Don Sweeney made it pretty clear right from the night that Hagens dropped to the B’s at the No. 7 pick that the preferred route for the player was to go back to school. The club and the player talked it out after last month’s Development Camp.
“It was a great talk, a great conversation. It was up to me. And (they said), ‘if you come here, you have to make the team.’ That’s how it is. Nothing’s given to you. Everything’s earned,” said Hagens. “It’s just taking it day-by-day, knowing what point you’re at. You never want to rush it, so it came down to sitting down and talking to my family, and talking to them and figuring out what the path was for me. But it’s just pure excitement to be around this, to be a part of it.”
As he was going through Development Camp in July, just days after being drafted, Hagens had said he wanted to be a Bruin as quickly as he could.
“I mean, I still want to be a Bruin really bad,” Hagens said with a chuckle. “But it’s just the time frame of it. I think there’s no rush. Going back to school, it’s a great opportunity and I’m really grateful that I have that option. It’s just making sure that you’re taking the opportunity in hand and you’re able to do a lot with it. I’m super grateful that I’m able to be there with Coach (Greg) Brown and all the coaching staff and learn from really smart people. They make you the player and they help you get to a place like this. It’s fun, it’s exciting and I can’t wait.”
The summer has been a wild ride for Hagens. He was a top 10 draft pick, played in the World Junior Summer Showcase in Minnesota for Team USA last week, and he even got to meet his favorite actor, Adam Sandler, at the Happy Gilmore 2 premiere. Sandler, who’s had a connection to the B’s since donning a Bruin jersey in the first Gilmore movie, made the Hagens pick official at the draft, albeit in a canned video.
“It was a crazy experience. You grow up idolizing him. Still to this day, I love all of his movies. I grew up watching him and the fact that I got to meet him and shake his hand and you find out he’s just a genuine, normal guy,” said Hagens.
Hagens will be back to business soon enough. The Eagles, who have six Bruin-drafted players on their roster, will begin team workouts later this month. And Hagens will be returning to college hockey at an interesting time for the NCAA after the restriction against Canadian major junior players has been lifted. Gavin McKenna, expected to be next June’s top pick, will leave Medicine Hat to play at Penn State. Closer to home, Roger McQueen, whom the Anaheim Ducks drafted with the 10th pick in June, announced his commitment to play at Providence College.
“It’s really exciting. You don’t play against those guys, unless there’s international hockey. And it’s exciting for those guys as well, to get a feel for what college hockey is really like,” said Hagens.
The personal goal for Hagens is to continue to add strength to his 5-foot-11 frame. He’d put on 10 pounds from the end of the BC season to the draft and, at the Summer Showcase, he said he felt the advantages of it in puck battles.
“Putting on weight has definitely helped,” said Hagens. “I’m getting ready and prepared for the season. It’s going to be tough. College hockey has just gotten better and better, especially with the new rule change. It’s going to be hard. It’s not going to be easy. No one has the mindset of it being about themselves over at BC, it’s all about what can we do as a team, what can we win. We take it day-by-day, game-by-game, practice-by-practice. It’s about making sure and emphasizing it takes a lot to win a Beanpot, to win a national championship, to win all these things. You have to make sure everyone’s together and everyone’s pulling the same rope.”
For now, he’s soaking up his taste of the pro experience while skating with the likes of Charlie McAvoy, Jeremy Swayman and Pavel Zacha.
“To be able to be surrounded by this is really helpful,” said Hagens. “It’s a learning experience. You learn how these guys go about it day-by-day, even when it’s in the offseason. It’s been really helpful.”
Soon enough, he’ll be pulling on the spoked B for good. But all in due time. He’s still got business to take care of at BC.
