The Boston Bruins announced overnight that James Hagens had signed an amateur tryout agreement with the AHL’s Providence Bruins. This news came as a surprise considering that many believed that the No. 7 overall pick of the Boston Bruins would be signing his NHL entry-level contract and join the NHL club for the remainder of the season.
Hagens recently finished his sophomore season with Boston College where he had 47 points in 34 games and was recently named a top 10 finalist for the Hobey Baker Memorial Award. BC’s season came to an end in the Hockey East semifinals, making Hagens available to sign.
Many Boston Bruins fans were excited about the prospects of seeing the club’s top prospect in NHL action and they still might yet this season. However, the Bruins are making a pragmatic decision with one of their most critical pieces of their future.
The #NHLBruins have announced that James Hagens will sign an AHL amateur tryout agreement (ATO) and report to the Providence Bruins.
— Boston Bruins (@NHLBruins) March 24, 2026
In a statement released overnight, Boston Bruins GM Don Sweeney said, “James is an important part of our future, and this is a great opportunity for him to get immediate experience at the professional level in Providence and continue his development, while keeping all options open.”
That last part of the statement is the important one. Keeping all options open suggests that the Bruins are still considering signing Hagens to his NHL entry-level deal starting this season. However, signing him to a deal that starts this season and getting him into NHL games would burn the first year off of his ELC and leave two years before he becomes a restricted free agent.
The Boston Bruins are currently in a more desperate playoff race. They hold the first wild card spot in the Eastern Conference and could even secure one of the top three spots in the Atlantic Division with 12 regular-season games to play. They are just as close to missing the playoffs, though, too. While Hagens could help the Bruins in those efforts, it’s tough to know how he would fit into the group that has arguably overachieved all season.
Meanwhile, the Providence Bruins are one of the best teams in the AHL. They lead the league with 47 wins and have 11 regular-season games remaining. The P-Bruins are poised for a deep playoff run with legitimate Calder Cup aspirations.
By sending Hagens to the AHL, the Bruins are putting their top prospect in a position to take the next step in his career without simply handing him an NHL roster spot on a team that has been doing well this season. That said, Boston can sign Hagens to his NHL deal at any point if they think he helps them.
There’s always a little bit of risk in pushing a prospect off and not signing them right away. Cutter Gauthier and Isaac Howard are two recent examples of players who were not signed as soon as they could have been by the teams that drafted them. Gauthier demanded a trade and Howard threatened to return to school and become a free agent the following summer. He also was later traded.
Hagens willingly signing the ATO for Boston suggests that he’s committed to the Bruins and will be ready if needed.
There is also some precedent within the Bruins own organization with one of their best players.
Charlie McAvoy was signed to an AHL contract at the end of his collegiate season in 2016. He played in four AHL games with the P-Bruins but Boston decided they needed him for their playoff run.
They signed McAvoy to his NHL ELC and he jumped right into the playoffs, playing on the top pairing with Zdeno Chara and making a positive impact even though the Bruins’ postseason run was short-lived.
That is an option that is still available to the Bruins with Hagens as well. If he goes to Providence and impresses enough, the team may have to make other considerations. They could have signed him to an ELC that doesn’t start until next season, but they didn’t do that. This gives them the chance to still sign him and put him into the Bruins lineup.
There’s also an argument that Hagens playing a more prominent role in Providence for a team with legitimate Calder Cup aspirations is a better long-term development play anyway.
One of McAvoy’s contemporaries, Zach Werenski, finished his collegiate season that same year and was sent to the AHL where he helped the Cleveland Monsters win a Calder Cup and has credited that time with being a critical learning experience. He has grown into a Norris Trophy caliber defenseman.
The Calder Cup Playoffs are an absolute grind. The challenge of that postseason test for a young player is probably as close as they can experience to the Stanley Cup Playoffs anywhere. The learning experiences that will afford could really set a player up for the next steps.
Hagens is a supremely talented forward who went into last year’s NHL Draft season as the projected No. 1 prospect. A more tepid showing as a freshman at Boston College, as well as other players rising, caused Hagens to slip all the way to No. 7 in the draft. The Bruins were ecstatic to see a player of that quality there and made the easy choice.
After the fact, it was revealed that the New York Islanders had attempted to trade up to get Hagens after drafting Matthew Schaefer No. 1, but Boston would not make a deal with the opportunity to draft Hagens.
The Long Island native is the fifth all-time leading scorer at the National Team Development Program. He set a single-tournament record for points at the IIHF Under-18 World Championship. He is a two-time World Juniors player, winning gold in 2025. He is coming off his best collegiate season and is a candidate for the Hobey Baker Award and will likely be an All-American.
The Bruins have been rebuilding their shallow prospect system and Hagens is certainly the crown jewel at this point.
Boston fans may be eager to see their top prospect at the Garden sooner than later, and they may yet. But now Hagens has a chance to join an exceptionally strong AHL team, get a taste of pro hockey and potentially get involved in a deep playoff run, all while giving the Bruins a chance to change their mind as things progress.
The Providence Bruins are on the road Wednesday against the Springfield Thunderbirds before playing a pair of games at home on Saturday and Sunday. All games will be available on FloHockey.
2026 Providence Bruins vs Springfield Thunderbirds
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