Bruins sign James Hagens: How top prospect can provide offensive spark originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston

After three consecutive games scoring just one goal, the Boston Bruins finally put together a decent offensive performance in Tuesday night’s road game against the Eastern Conference-leading Carolina Hurricanes.

The B’s lost in overtime, but they scored five goals. Morgan Geekie, who hadn’t scored in 17 straight games, netted a hat trick to give him a team-leading (and career-high) 37 goals.

Despite the uptick in goals, this game provided even more evidence for why the Bruins needed to sign top prospect James Hagens and get him on the NHL roster as soon as possible.

They did that Wednesday afternoon, officially signing Hagens to a three-year entry-level contract. He could potentially debut Saturday against the Lightning at TD Garden.

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Hagens, the No. 7 overall pick in the 2025 NHL Draft, originally signed an ATO deal with the AHL’s Providence Bruins after his Boston College season ended a few weeks ago. The 19-year-old forward tallied a career-high 47 points (23 goals, 24 assists) in 37 games as a sophomore for the Eagles and won the Hockey East scoring title.

He played well for the P-Bruins, making six appearances and tallying four points (one goal, three assists). He showed the creativity with the puck, speed and offensive instincts that made him a highly-coveted prospect.

Hagens’ high-end playmaking ability should be a nice boost to the Bruins’ bottom-six (or wherever he plays) and power play for the rest of the regular season and the Stanley Cup Playoffs. (Boston has a 99 percent chance of getting in).

The Bruins rank 18th in goals scored per game since the Olympic break. They were sixth before the break. Aside from Geekie’s goal drought, one of the biggest reasons for the Bruins’ scoring output falling in recent weeks has been a lack of production from the bottom six.

Alex Steeves has one goal in his last 21 games. Michael Eyssimont has zero goals in his last nine games. Sean Kuraly has a 21-game goal drought. Mark Kastelic has gone 22 games without scoring. Tanner Jeannot has zero goals in 24 consecutive games. Lukas Reichel scored in his first game with the Bruins on March 19, but he hasn’t found the back of the net in his eight games since.

Sensing a theme here?

Here’s a look at the scoring for notable bottom-six players since the Olympic break:

Hagens obviously isn’t a bottom-six talent. He has the potential to be a top-six forward (maybe a No. 1 center) for a long time. But putting him in a third-line role (left wing makes the most sense) at this early stage of his career to give this Bruins team a much-needed spark offensively is a risk worth taking. Hagens also has the versatility to play center or wing.

The power play is another area where Hagens’ offensive skill set could improve the Bruins’ attack. Whether it’s zone entries, creating scoring chances, etc., Hagens could bolster a power play that ranks 27th in success rate since the Olympic break. It was the league’s third-best unit before the Olympic break.

JAMES HAGENS HAS HIS FIRST PROFESSIONAL GOAL! 🐻
In just his second career game too!
(🎥: @AHLBruins) pic.twitter.com/Wo3VWMqTdi
— NHL (@NHL) March 29, 2026

The Bruins went 0-for-2 with only one shot on net in four minutes of power-play time versus the Hurricanes on Tuesday. Some of the recent struggles stem from Geekie’s goal drought that ended Tuesday, but it’s larger than one player. It’s a team-wide issue.

Boston’s three most likely first-round playoff opponents are the Hurricanes, Lightning and Sabres. All three have good penalty kills. Buffalo and Tampa Bay both have top-seven PK units. The Bruins’ playoff run likely will be short if they don’t cash in on power-play chances.

The B’s just played four road games in six days. They aren’t practicing Wednesday, but they don’t play again until Saturday when the Tampa Bay Lightning come to TD Garden. By signing Hagens now, the Bruins can put him through a few practices before he makes his debut.

Hagens doesn’t need to be a savior. He doesn’t need to dominate. His speed and offensive skill could give the Bruins a much-needed boost come playoff time. And why wouldn’t you take a chance on that? The Eastern Conference is wide open.

Michael Eyssimont

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