F James Hagens - USNTDP Juniors, USHL (2025 Draft)

[Pavel Buchnevich]

Expecting him to win the Hobey to match Celebrini is wrong. It's incredibly hard to win the Hobey on a stacked team and he's going to one of the most stacked forward lineups of all time.

BU's forward unit was nothing special without Celebrini.

They'll also reward a guy like Smith that comes back to college hockey over him.

What about Fantilli?

 

[Bonin21]

What about Fantilli?

I think Brock Faber should have won that Hobey, but Knies/Cooley/Faber all being on the same team made it impossible for any of them to win.

 

[mphmiles]

Hagens likely won’t win it even with stellar play, and it won’t be due to politics.

It’s unreasonable to expect him to match the production of the other trio when he’ll be playing with considerably less talent 5v5. If they all stay healthy, Smith, Leonard, and Perreault might be one of the all time lines in college hockey history next year. It's extremely rare you have 3 guys with that pedigree A. all stay for their 2nd year. B. All playing together.

 

[JotAlan]

Hagens likely won’t win it even with stellar play, and it won’t be due to politics.

It’s unreasonable to expect him to match the production of the other trio when he’ll be playing with considerably less talent 5v5. If they all stay healthy, Smith, Leonard, and Perreault might be one of the all time lines in college hockey history next year. It's extremely rare you have 3 guys with that pedigree A. all stay for their 2nd year. B. All playing together.

It's exactly how I think. Taking into account that they will still have another year to go. That said, I believe Hagens will have one of the best seasons by a pre-draftee of all time.

 

[JiggsNY]

I know the freshman line has had the whole power of friendship thing, and it's obviously an extremely effective combination. But I do think they should maybe shuffle the lines next year. Hagens is not Gauthier, doesn't have the size strength or experience that Gauthier had this year to run his own line. Would proabably be good if they even out the top two lines next year, maybe pair him with Leonard.

 

[Bonin21]

I know the freshman line has had the whole power of friendship thing, and it's obviously an extremely effective combination. But I do think they should maybe shuffle the lines next year. Hagens is not Gauthier, doesn't have the size strength or experience that Gauthier had this year to run his own line. Would proabably be good if they even out the top two lines next year, maybe pair him with Leonard.

You don't shuffle arguably the best college hockey line of all time.

 

[BKarchitect]

I dunno if Jellvik and Gasseau are coming back, they would provide a lot of insulation for Hagens from a physical/experience standpoint and would keep Hagens exposed to more secondary defensive units than the big line. I don’t think Hagens would have to “run” that line…those are two experienced and awesome college players and Hagens’ playmaking may unlock even more even if he’s not even a shadow of the goal scoring beast Gauthier was.

I do think Leonard and Hagens could be magic together. If the band is coming back, I suspect BC will have no shortage of options to mix and match as needed. It probably (almost certainly) blunts Hagens from having a Celebrini-like “centerpiece” year but I think a Logan Cooley-esque freshman year with exponential growth in the second half is a reasonable expectation….and he could still end up easily only 4th on his own teams scoring chart which would be absolutely bonkers. The scoring on this team could be historical.

 

[Pavel Buchnevich]

He had 1+2 again today. Has 4+6=10 points in 3 games. Leads the tournament in points by 2.

I’d put him with Stiga and Leonard next year. Let Smith and Perreault play with someone else who can play a heavy game. You’ll have two star lines with that approach.

 

[Bonin21]

He had 1+2 again today. Has 4+6=10 points in 3 games. Leads the tournament in points by 2.

I’d put him with Stiga and Leonard next year. Let Smith and Leonard play with someone else who can play a heavy game. You’ll have two star lines with that approach.

You'll have two star lines with Stiga and Hagens and whomever on the 2nd.

 

[LDN]

Is there a 0% chance he comes to London at this point?

 

[WarriorofTime]

Is there a 0% chance he comes to London at this point?

Probably solely as a "if things go poorly at BC" option.

 

[WhiskeyYerTheDevils]

Probably solely as a "if things go poorly at BC" option.

Which is probably a near zero probability considering he was a PPG as a 17 year old against collegiate competition this year.

 

[SK94]

What about Fantilli?

Neither Fantilli nor Celebrini should have won. I might get a lot of criticism for this, but this is my honest opinion. Both won due to their dratf status. Hobey is all about who was the best. It shouldn't matter if you're a freshman, senior or whatever.

 

[Bonin21]

Is there a 0% chance he comes to London at this point?

Not going to happen

 

[TLEH]

I wonder if we will ever see a late birthday play their D-1 in the NCAA.

 

[WarriorofTime]

I wonder if we will ever see a late birthday play their D-1 in the NCAA.

To what end? For an American kid, they'd likely be accelerating schooling two years and if they are high-end enough that an NCAA team would want them in their age 17 season, they'd likely be on the NTDP. Maybe more likely for a Canadian kid like Power or Fantilli to go "One and Done" at the USHL, while also accelerating schooling a year (I think most Canadians do a Jan 1 - December 31 school cycle, instead of the U.S. where it's closer to Labor Day).

Back not so long ago, Noah Hanifin and Zach Werenski both left the NTDP to play at Boston College and Michigan during their draft season in 2014-15. That was their Age 17 season, and perhaps at the time there was concern that the NTDP wasn't playing a high enough level of competition for future Top 10 picks in a draft year.

 

[WhiskeyYerTheDevils]

I wonder if we will ever see a late birthday play their D-1 in the NCAA.

They'd have to be an insane talent like a Crosby/McDavid, and if that's the case, there's probably no reason for them to accelerate their education so much when they can just go play Major Junior for 2 years and then straight into the NHL.

 

[TLEH]

Yeah, I understand the process. Accelerating 2 years of school would be the hurdle rather than the actual hockey itself. Just a question. When you consider that Celebrini is only 5 months younger than Hagens for example. It likely never happens because if you're that good and want the increase in competition then you'll just go to Major Junior for the less academic hurdle.

 

[WarriorofTime]

They'd have to be an insane talent like a Crosby/McDavid, and if that's the case, there's probably no reason for them to accelerate their education so much when they can just go play Major Junior for 2 years and then straight into the NHL.

Late birthday would give them 3 years in CHL, and 4 if they are a late birthday + exceptional status (which so far I think is only Tavares?)

If the NCAA makes CHL players eligible, then maybe we see something like the scenario above with a special late birthday talent. Exceptional Status, so age 15 and 16 in CHL, then 17 and 18 in NCAA and then NHL.

 

[Hockeyville USA]

Neither Fantilli nor Celebrini should have won. I might get a lot of criticism for this, but this is my honest opinion. Both won due to their dratf status. Hobey is all about who was the best. It shouldn't matter if you're a freshman, senior or whatever.

It's insanely more impressive when you produce at an elite level as a 17 or 18 year old freshman. 22 year olds stat padding, especially if they were just meh or even below average as 18 or 19 year olds, is not impressive to me.

 

[WhiskeyYerTheDevils]

Late birthday would give them 3 years in CHL, and 4 if they are a late birthday + exceptional status (which so far I think is only Tavares?)

If the NCAA makes CHL players eligible, then maybe we see something like the scenario above with a special late birthday talent. Exceptional Status, so age 15 and 16 in CHL, then 17 and 18 in NCAA and then NHL.

Yeah I was assuming they were making the decision of where to play their D-1 D-0, assuming they hadn't played any CHL hockey yet. My point is it would probably make more sense to play those 2 years in the CHL/USNTDP vs the NCAA because of the educational acceleration.

 

[TLEH]

Yeah I was assuming they were making the decision of where to play their D-1 D-0, assuming they hadn't played any CHL hockey yet. My point is it would probably make more sense to play those 2 years in the CHL/USNTDP vs the NCAA because of the educational acceleration.

Which I agree with, but if you are really that good, and the way NCAA vs CHL is trending, you never know I guess.

 

[TLEH]

I find the birthday conversation pretty interesting because I assumed (naively) that Canada also ran around the Labor day cutoff. Essentially an Oct birthday would be physically the more developed player based on draft year NHL stuff, and if you are an American kid, you would be the oldest in your age group in school. In Canada you would be pushing the younger side for your age group of kids, but then flipped when it came to draft time.

 

[WhiskeyYerTheDevils]

Which I agree with, but if you are really that good, and the way NCAA vs CHL is trending, you never know I guess.

If the player was American, I think it'd be preferably to do what Auston Matthews did - play your D-1 with the USNTDP and then go over and play a year of pro hockey in Europe as a draft eligible.

 

[WarriorofTime]

Yeah I was assuming they were making the decision of where to play their D-1 D-0, assuming they hadn't played any CHL hockey yet. My point is it would probably make more sense to play those 2 years in the CHL/USNTDP vs the NCAA because of the educational acceleration.

True. I was just thinking out loud about how it was crazy Tavares had no choice but to play four seasons in the OHL. That’s a lot in the same level for a developing player, especially one who tore the league up in his second season.