Long Island-born hockey players are just built differently. James Hagens has signed an ATO with the Providence Bruins of the American Hockey League. Hagens will be the 26th player from Long Island to play in the NHL.
James Hagens, a Hauppauge, NY, native, was drafted by the Boston Bruins seventh overall in the NHL draft last summer. Uniquely, Hagens is the highest-ranked Long Island-born player drafted in the NHL. Next highest? His future teammate, Charlie McAvoy, a native of Long Beach, NY, who was drafted 14th overall in 2016 by the Boston Bruins.
“I love it. There’s the saying, ‘nothing is given, everything is earned.’ It’s just knowing that you have to earn a spot wherever you go. It’s going out there, it’s working your hardest, it’s trying to show everything you’ve worked for. Hopefully it pays off,” said Hagens in a press release for the Bruins.
What has Hagens been up to since his name was called by Adam Sandler at the 2025 draft? Hagens was shipping up to Boston regardless, as he played college hockey for the Boston College Eagles. Hagens, a sophomore at BC, had a solid year as he opted to return to college instead of immediately entering the professional ranks.
Another year spent at the Division I level boded well for Hagens, as he registered 23G-24A-47PTS, only took 12 penalties, and six of his 23 goals were game-winners. His offense led the Eagles in scoring, led Hockey East in scoring, and was ranked 10th in the NCAA in scoring. To make things better, Hagens is a top-10 finalist for the Hobey Baker award. The Hobey is comparable to the Heisman of college football, for reference.
BC’s season came to an end in a 4-3 loss to the UConn Huskies in the Hockey East championship semifinal game. In his final game repping the Eagles, Hagens recorded two assists. His collegiate career stat line finished with 71GP-34G-50A-84PTS. With that, a decision had to be made. Stay at BC and develop for another year, or sign a professional contract and get started? Hagens chose the latter.
On March 24th, 2026, Hagens signed an amateur tryout agreement (ATO) with the Providence Bruins, the AHL affiliate of the NHL’s Boston Bruins. He didn’t have to travel far at all and made his professional debut the very next day.
“It was fun. It was really exciting being out there for my first pro practice. It’s definitely something I’ll never forget. It’s been really exciting, just waiting to see what the next chapter looks like, and now being able to be here, I couldn’t be more excited,” said Hagens in a press release for the Bruins.
Of course, Hagens heard from Charlie McAvoy upon the signing getting announced.
“He [McAvoy] sent a really nice text; him being a Long Island guy is something that was really cool,” Hagens said.
On March 28th, 2026, James Hagens scored his first professional goal. The goal came against the Bridgeport Islanders, the AHL affiliate of the New York Islanders. Seems fitting, right? The goal came off a beautiful pass to Hagens in the right faceoff dot, who then one-timed it past Hogberg for the eventual game-winner.
Congratulations, James, on the start of your professional hockey career! Long Island is proud to have another player go pro!
