The news everybody has been waiting for finally happened.
On Wednesday night, James Hagens announced his commitment to Boston College via Instagram, along with his brother Michael, who originally committed to Harvard but opened his recruitment back up at the end of August.
Hagens, from Hauppauge, N.Y., is widely considered to be a top 1 prospect for the 2025 NHL Draft. In 43 games for the United States National Team Development Program's U17 team last year, he scored 26 goals and totaled 66 points, solidifying himself as the team's top center.
At 16 years old, he captured a gold medal with the United States at this year's IIHF Under-18 Men's World Championship. He notched a lamplighter and four assists in seven games.
Prior to joining the NTDP, Hagens was a star at Mount St. Charles, leading the way with 54 goals and 115 games in 54 games with the 15O team.
Michael, an '05 defenseman, spent time at Mount St. Charles, too, but from 2020-22 before heading to the United States Hockey League's Chicago Steel. In 2022-23, Michael scored nine goals and posted 26 points in 60 games for the Steel.
This is undoubtedly a huge get for BC head coach Greg Brown, as well as his staff of associate head coaches Mike Ayers and Brendan Buckley, and new assistant coach Brent Darnell.
It was a competitive field with BC. According to a source, the other New England school heavily in the mix until the end was Providence College. Three schools from the Big Ten were in the running: Michigan, Notre Dame and Penn State. Plus, as New England Hockey Journal reported last week, all options were being considered including the Patrick Kane route. That would mean going to the Ontario Hockey League's London Knights, who drafted Hagens in the sixth round of the 2022 OHL Priority Selection.
Both brothers bring value to Chestnut Hill.
Michael adds depth to Boston College's back end. His younger brother projects to bring game-breaking star power up front. If — and this is a big if — Will Smith (Lexington, Mass.) opts to stay for a sophomore season in 2024-25, that one-two punch down the middle would cause fits for opponents.
Up until getting Hagens, BC had been relatively quiet in this recruiting period, while still getting high-end players in local forwards Gavin Cornforth (Milton, Mass.) and Teddy Mutryn (Norwell, Mass.).
Now, Brown and Co., aren't so quiet.
Other recruiting news
- Tory Pitner has de-committed from UMass. The former South Kent standout defender chose UMass on Aug. 1, 2022. He will play this season with the USHL's Youngstown Phantoms. There, he will have an opportunity to boost his stock even more for the NHL Draft in June. At 6-foot-1 and 181 pounds, the two-way defender has plenty of eyes on him.
- UMass Lowell recently got two commitments. The first came from Easton Jacobs, an '06 forward who will play for the USHL's Sioux City Musketeers. The 6-foot-2, 190-pound Muskegon, Mich., native made a name for himself with Little Caesars, scoring 26 goals and adding 33 assists in 63 games last year for the 16U team. The other commit came from Libor Nemec, an '03 forward from Bardejov, Slovakia. He will play with the USHL's Green Bay Gamblers this season.
- Arizona State knew when it hired former BU head coach Albie O'Connell as associate head coach and recruiting coordinator, the Sun Devils would have success bringing in New England prospects. Less than three months into O'Connell's role, and Arizona State got a commitment from Dylan Krayer (Concord, Mass.). The 5-foot-9, 150-pound forward is shifty and quick and has been a standout at Mount St. Charles for the last three years. He had 68 points in 55 games last year with the 15O team. This season, at the 16U level, he has three goals and nine points in four games. It's a strong get for Arizona State.
- Former BU commit Will Zellers announced this week that he's committing to North Dakota. The 5-foot-11, 170-pound forward posted 19 goals and 49 points in 37 games last year for Shattuck St. Mary's 18U Prep squad. The '06 is playing on the same team this season.
