Next month, training camp begins for the Boston Bruins, and it is a big one for some players who are looking to find a way onto the Opening Night roster for the 2026-27 season. One of those players is James Hagens.
After signing a PTO last March to join the Providence Bruins in the American Hockey League (AHL), after his college career at Boston College in the semifinals of the Hockey East Tournament. After getting his feet wet with the P-Bruins, he signed his entry-level deal with Boston.
Hagen played in a couple of regular-season and playoff games, but bigger things are expected from the seventh overall pick in the 2025 Entry Draft. However, he could be facing a tough time making the roster, and second-year head coach Marco Sturm explained what it'll take for him and any other younger players to break camp in the NHL.
Marco Sturm sends a message to James Hagens about the Bruins' upcoming training camp
Strum joined Evan Marinofsky on the Bruins Beat podcast and explained what Hagnes and any other younger players will have to do next month to remain in Boston beyond the cuts.
"They have to show me first. The player for me always dictates how much they want to play in certain situations… and if Hagens shows me that he's ready for that next step, I will give him that. I'm not that dumb,'' said Sturm.
When he was plugged into the Bruins lineup, Sturm put together a "Kid Line'' with Hagens, Fraser Minten, and Marat Khusnutdinov. It was a fun line to watch, but after Game 3 of the first-round playoff series with the Buffalo Sabres, Hagens was scratched, which left questions surrounding his future. However, Boston has a plethora of defensemen, as well as middle- and bottom-six forwards, and just how it shakes out is anyone's guess right now.
If we're being honest, Boston would love to see a bigger role for Minten, which would mean him moving up as a center for Sturm as either the first or second pivot. The top-six seems set with David Pastrnak, JJ Peterka, Casey Mittlestadt, and Morgan Geekie as the forwards, with Zacha, Minten, or Elias Lindholm as the top two centers.
As for Hagens, he had nothing left to prove in college, and really, you can make the same case for the AHL. However, the bottom-six forwards are overloaded, and that could spell trouble for some players- hopefully not Hagens. Sturm has laid out the blueprint for Hagens and any other younger players to crack the roster this season. Now it's just a matter of going out and grabbing it by the horns and running with it.
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