Bruins select James Hagens 7th overall!

The local kid gets to stay local!

Thanks to some Happy news from Adam Sandler, the Boston Bruins select James Hagens 7th overall!

Here’s what EliteProspects’ Draft guide has to say about him:

“Fast-forward seven months, and Hagens had a successful season in a vacuum. He was a supporting element at the World Juniors, winning a Gold Medal and finishing the year with a point-per-game season with the Eagles. While Hagens’ application of consistent dynamic moments varied from shift to shift, it’s still clear he possesses one of th ebest toolkits across the entire draft. A fluid skater who is light on his edges, he leverages full-range wingspan handling, high activity rate, crossovers, and a motor to create constant advantages. He layers pucks through tricky seams, hooks and slipsfeeds around pressure, and improvises on the fly with lightning-quick processing, punching away from threats and funnelling play to the inside.Hagens even possesses advanced shooting skills, releasing quickly off the pass, ripping shots off his inside foot, and improving off-puck as the season went on. His deception blending is where he starts to dominate, uses eye-line fakesand body feints in open ice to build speed and leave defenders in the dust…

…Ultimately, Hagens’ projection boils down to size and hockey sense. Clearly, a highly intelligent player, but does he have that next-level feel for creation that other top-end smaller pivots have? Can he develop his puck-winning and puck protection skills into strengths?

We didn’t do a Draft Profile for Hagens because, quite frankly…I didn’t think we’d ever be in a position to get Hagens. He’s shown incredible skill in an extremely tough NCAA market and conference, he works like a dog just about every shift, I couldn’t be happier with this turn of events, and I get the impression fans feel the same.

Here’s his stats from EliteProspects.com:

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Let’s all welcome Jimmy to the Black and Gold!