Haggerty: Now is not the time to rush Hagens to NHL level taken at BSJ Headquarters (Bruins)

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James Hagens is the 19-year-old jewel of the Bruins draft-and-development system, but the calls for the B's to rush him to the NHL level for a struggling Bruins offense are more about being panicky than being prudent.

Bruins

Haggerty: Now is not the time to rush Hagens to NHL level

By Joe Haggerty

Apr 6, 2026 • 1:08 pm

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There isn’t a lot of secrecy or nuance to what’s going on with the Boston Bruins right now.

They are struggling to score at a time of year when every inch of ice is being challenged and, generally speaking, it is much more difficult to generate offense and score goals absent old-fashioned hard work around the net.

The Bruins again only managed to scrape together one goal in Sunday’s 2-1 overtime loss to the Philadelphia Flyers at Wells Fargo Center, but they did manage to secure an ultra-important point that pushed them to a 98 percent chance of clinching a Stanley Cup playoff spot.

“I thought that was a huge point for us. I know everything wasn’t smooth for us, but guys battled back,” said Marco Sturm. “[It was] unfortunate a little bit in OT [with the penalties], but I will take that point.”

It makes three road games in a row where they’ve clawed for just a single goal while taking one out of a possible six points, and with another big challenge waiting for them in Carolina on Tuesday night with the Hurricanes. There are a couple of silver linings here, starting with Boston’s very secure position as the top wild-card team in the East while many of their closest competitors keep losing, and continuing with the stellar defense and goaltending that have been constants in all these close defeats.

The Bruins also were able to nab a power play goal when they really needed one at the start of the third period in Sunday’s game when Pavel Zacha notched his 29th goal of the season. 

The key point secured by a special teams score goes a long way toward giving them the easiest path out of six teams fighting for three playoff spots in the Eastern Conference right now.

But it still doesn’t ease the nerves of a Bruins team that knows it is struggling at the moment.

“It’s tough to be positive right now. The trip is going tough, you know, and we’re not getting the wins. We’re not playing good hockey and the offense is struggling right now. We just need to turn it around,” said David Pastrnak. “Pretty much this whole trip we’re not scoring many goals.

“Maybe the shots are there, but we just need to get greedier and go more to the net to start scoring more goals. We can’t rely on our goaltender every night. It’s a tough stretch but we’ve been through so much together as a group. We need to stick together. It’s getting down to the wire and to turn this trip around we’ve got one more chance.”

Clearly, the struggle is real to score goals for the Black and Gold right now.

Morgan Geekie has now gone 17 games without a goal, dating back to the beginning of March, and showed some frustration breaking a stick in overtime when a prime scoring chance from the high slot was deflected by a Flyers defender at the last minute.

And even Pastrnak looked like a fatigued player in terms of his skating legs and decision-making on Sunday as the B’s were playing their third game in fourth days and had less than 24 hours to skate in Philly after playing Saturday afternoon in Tampa as well.

All of it boils down to some very clear and present offensive issues that have many corners of the hockey universe calling for the Bruins to prematurely promote 19-year-old James Hagens from Providence as some kind of savior.

Certainly, Hagens has flashed the speed and skill at the AHL level that made him the seventh overall pick in last summer’s NHL draft during his time with the Bruins, and the Bruins are understandably excited about the long-term possibilities for him.

But we are also talking about a gifted teenager trying to make the jump from college hockey to the pros, as Hagens has posted a goal and four points in six AHL games since signing his amateur tryout agreement. And almost none of them have come during 5-on-5 play at the AHL level, either.

Hagens has not been a dominant force by any means, has had moments where the heightened physicality has quieted him down a bit during games, and he doesn’t look quite ready to be thrust into an NHL playoff pressure cooker.

To put it in perspective, Lukas Reichel had more AHL points than Hagens in half as many games with the P-Bruins after arriving at the NHL trade deadline, and very clearly earned his current look in Boston.

Conversely, Hagens has just one goal in six games in a good, but not great, opening salvo at the AHL level. On what planet is somebody who has scored one goal in six minor league games being viewed by so many as the element that is going to be impactful on a tired Bruins team going through an offensive dry spell?

Reichel scored in his first game with the Bruins, and his speed of play had a tangible positive impact on Elias Lindholm and Morgan Geekie in their first couple of games together, but he has just one assist in his last eight games, along with little more than a handful of shots on net. Monday marks the end of his emergency recall stint with the Bruins, so they will need to make a decision on the 23-year-old former first-round pick, and any subsequent callups from AHL Providence as well.

There’s a distinct possibility that Matt Poitras could be the guy to get the call from Providence rather than Hagens as the playmaking, creative forward that could give Boston’s offense a boost with his 13 goals and 44 points in 64 games with Providence – and a goal in Boston as well -- this season.

Poitras has, by all accounts, had a very strong season in Providence while being allowed to develop there over the last two seasons after he was rushed to the NHL level for a Bruins team that was, at the time, furiously trying to replace a retiring Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci.

It would be a surprise, and a mistake, in this hockey writer’s opinion, if the Bruins suddenly change course and sign Hagens to his three-year entry-level contract based on what’s happened in Providence to this point. None of it even mentions the unreasonable expectations that would be thrust on the former Boston College wunderkind’s shoulders to elevate a Bruins team struggling and looking for an offensive spark right now.

Could Hagens’ playmaking and skill level help the Bruins power play a bit right now? It’s certainly possible, and it’s still not out of the question that circumstances point toward him being called up during Boston’s playoff run if injuries or an uptick in his play pave the road for it to happen as it did with Charlie McAvoy almost 10 years ago.

But it doesn’t look or feel like the 5-foot-10, 180-pound Hagens is ready for the NHL pounding that would await him if he were to suddenly be called up. Some will point to Porter Martone, picked by the Flyers one spot ahead of Hagens in the draft, and his game-winning goal for Philly on Sunday afternoon as prime evidence as to why Hagens should be up in Boston.

But Martone is a 6-foot-3, 200-pound power forward with a body and game already built for pro hockey, and is an entirely different development type than Hagens currently is with the Black and Gold. Way too many casual hockey fans and amateur puck prognosticators believe there is a “one size fits all” development path for every hockey player selected in the top-10 in an NHL draft, but Hagens and Anaheim first round Roger McQueen are perfect examples of players in need of AHL development time before they are ready for the big step next season.

The Bruins are making prudent choices with Hagens to make him the best player he can be in the NHL next season, and long term, instead of hitting the panic button on a B’s team this season that isn’t expected to make a ton of noise in the Stanley Cup playoffs.

It’s exactly the right call for the Bruins, and for Hagens, as the hue and cry to promote the youngster to the NHL has reached a fever pitch this week.

 

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