Approaching the end of what’s been a wild summer, Wednesday at TD Garden had to feel pretty normal to Bruins prospect James Hagens.
The son of a biology teacher and an English teacher, and heading back to school himself in the coming days, the 18-year-old Hagens was in attendance representing the Bruins (along with Johnny Beecher and Mason Lohrei) at the TD Garden’s Back-to-School Celebration, where they distributed over 3,000 backpacks and other school supplies to children for the upcoming school year. It was just the latest event confirming that, yes, this is all real and Hagens is indeed the next major piece of both the Bruins and now the City of Boston.
“This makes you feel like you’re part of the organization and that you really are a Bruin,” Hagens told 985TheSportsHub.com. “It’s crazy, it’s kind of been a whirlwind, this whole summer. But to be able to be here, to train with the Bruins and be able come to stuff like this and be able give back, it means a lot.”
From the 2025 NHL Draft in Los Angeles to Bruins development camp at Warrior Ice Arena and then out to Minnesota to represent Team USA at the Summer Showcase, this has been a summer that would burn out most. But Hagens has done his part to not only be at everything, but make memories and time for those who’ve made time for him and his journey to get here.
“It’s been a summer where you just you have to be grateful for everything,” Hagens, who said he’s even heard ‘go Bruins’ shouts his way when on the golf course this summer, said. “It only happens once, so make sure you’re spending the time with your family and make sure that you’re just you’re grateful for it all.
“Soak it all in because it comes quick.”
Hagens, who has been in town since the Summer Showcase ended, has been among those skating with his future Bruins teammates (and fellow NHLers in town for the summer) at Warrior Ice Arena. That can and will continue until he reports to Boston College, where he will indeed play a sophomore season. But Wednesday at TD Garden represented his final Bruins commitment for the summer. But the continued exposure to the community, as well as those informal skates at Brighton, is only driving his hunger for NHL minutes.
“You don’t know when your time’s gonna come, but you wanna be ready for it though,” Hagens offered. “So it’s making sure that you are taking care of the little things every single day and making sure you’re becoming better. You’re doing everything now so when it does come around, you can impact the team.”
But first comes that aforementioned sophomore season at Boston College, where Hagens will be asked to be more of a play driver (especially with 2024-25 linemates Ryan Leonard and Gabe Perreault both in the NHL now), and for a team that still has championship aspirations. Hagens was able to do that at times during his freshman season (11 goals and 37 points in 37 games), which began with Hagens at just 17 years old, but it will have to be a constant after a freshman year that truly tested the Long Island native before the Eagles came up short and he fell to the Bruins with the seventh overall pick this past June.
“You can get frustrated and whatnot, but I think just taking a step back and looking at it, you’re playing in the best city in the world and you’re playing in front of the best fans in the world that are cheering you on,” Hagens said. “Whether it’s BC or over here at the Bruins, you just have to be so grateful for where you are. It’s the fact that you’re able to step on the ice to wear either of those jerseys, it’s something where you could have worse problems. So when you’re frustrated or facing adversity, it’s great to kind of step back, look at it from the outside and just understand how grateful you should be for it.”
Jacob Oshinsky/WRBBsports File
CHESTNUT HILL, MASSACHUSETTS – NOVEMBER 23: Ryan McGuire of Northeastern Huskies #9 takes a face off against James Hagens of Boston College Eagles #10. (Jacob Oshinsky/WRBBsports File)
And Hagens has already outlined his goals for his second run at Chestnut Hill this season: Win a Beanpot and then win a national championship. Just casual things, we’d all agree. But they’re the kind of lofty goals and objectives that only further highlight Hagens and his personality, and his desire to be on the biggest stage possible at any given moment.
“I love the pressure,” Hagens admitted. “I mean, my dad would always say pressure’s a privilege. You want to be out there on the ice in those games that matter and when the lights turn big. So it’s just understanding that it’s never going to be easy. That’s why you play. You don’t want it to be easy.”