After the Boston Bruins were eliminated from the Stanley Cup Playoffs, one question that popped up was which players, if any, were going to play in the IIHF World Championship in Switzerland, if any.
A handful of players headed over, and one of them was James Hagens. He signed his entry-level deal with a week left in the regular season for the Bruins and made his NHL debut, playing in the final two regular-season games. He played well enough with Marat Khusnutdinov and Fraser Minten, where he played in the first three games of the Buffalo series before being a healthy scratch.
After the Bruins were eliminated, Hagens made his way to play for Team USA, and on Saturday against Latvia, he moved from the wing to center and played his best game yet. However, it wasn't enough as Latvia scored three thrid-period goals in a 4-2 victory.
Bruins prospect James Hagens plays best World Championship Game for Team USA
Hagens centered the second line for Team USA with Alex Steeves and Isaac Howard on Saturday. He won four of his six face-offs and had four shots in the net, three of them coming in the first period. He looked better with his breakouts and confidence than he had earlier in the tournament. If he plays again, it'll be interesting to see what head coach Don Granto does with him.
As for the result, the defending Gold Medal winners are on the outside looking in for terms of advancing after the loss to Latvia. They don't control their own destiny and will play Hungary on Monday morning in a must-win game.
As for Hagens, playing and being with some Tema USA players will only be beneficial down the line. As far as the 2026-27 season goes, it will be a big training camp for the former Boston College standout in terms of making the roster out of training camp.
Add us as a preferred source on Google