NHL Draft Analysis: James Hagens OR Matthew Schaefer?

NHL Draft Analysis: James Hagens OR Matthew Schaefer?

james what’s going on excited to have you we’ve got the most exciting time outside of the beginning of the hockey season going down with the draft this weekend as well as development camps coming up yeah absolutely uh yeah it’s draft week and uh exciting time for the kids um in the NHL draft right now we actually just did a day in the life video with Colin Potter who’s projected to go in the first round so um you know he shared a lot of uh excitement heading into this week and a lot of hard work that that’s come into this point of his life and all these kids’ lives so uh um yeah it’s a big time for everyone including these NHL teams that you know are taking a waiver on on the kids of the future right now so um excited to see uh what the Bruins do what my Minnesota Wild do um but especially covering college hockey where all these kids go um you know this they work like I said so hard in college hockey and um it’s been fun to see them develop o over the years whether it’s in the US or um in Canada or wherever but now being in college hockey and see some of these kids get a chance it’s been cool to see it yeah college hockey is finally starting to gain some love go ahead Sophia no sorry i was just say dude I have a hockey question for you thanks for being on the show but really quick how long were you waiting in the background for my move in story because I thought I was killing time so I hope I didn’t keep you did you hear the whole thing cuz I I apologize it was a great story no okay okay i I didn’t know you were ready to go so I’m sorry i’m just like chitchatting you’re you’re ready to go a bit of confusion on our end so my bad um but let’s transition to Bruins uh and their needs i know that that’s not what you’re focusing on and I know that you know like I said you said you’re Minnesota Wild that’s probably not your number one thing but in terms of uh what they’ve what they need and what they’ve been drafting for a while couple years back it was kind of bigger defenseman and they were looking for that and and uh you know offensive defenseman and guys that can hit and be physical in the postseason and now the need is a center and they’ve drafted a couple of centers uh still to see TBD how that pans out for the Boston Bruins but where do you feel like or who do you feel like could be a good fit uh for this team in in the upcoming draft listen I have some uh connects in Boston i think everyone wants Hagens to be available for them uh I know Sweeney mentioned maybe not being able to trade up to get him if he goes in top five I think uh Hagens does land in the top five for me i’d take him as early as possible um getting to watch him at BC develop i think he’s third in points this year um just behind Ryan Leonard and Gabe Perau so uh maybe a little bit of a slow start you know his uh draft uh he dropped a little bit in the draft rankings but I think you take him as early as you can and great hands great speed through the neutral zone like that’s great kid as well and that’s that’s important in the locker room very mature for how young he is at 18 so um that that’s a guy I’d land if I if I can if I’m the Bruins find any way to get him um but yeah I definitely think that everybody would lose it if we had an opportunity to grab him um we’ve talked a lot about young guys kind of getting a taller task on their shoulders with the way that the NHL is moving these days there was like a little north of 123 NHL debuts injuries included because we know how that tends to move about but I feel like these guys are pushing to be as NHL ready as possible now more than ever uh what do you where do you think James falls in line with that potentially being NHL ready because he had a couple buddies that had big moments over the past couple of months yeah I think for him like um seeing Will Smith go to San Jose and do what he did there um you know with Celerini too they’re all connected out in the Boston area definitely impressive i don’t think however it hurts to to mature and stay in college for a sophomore junior season and um I think we’ve seen over the past few years college hockey really grow and these guys take the next step from college hockey straight into the NHL and and exceed right away succeed right away and I think um yeah I I I wouldn’t I don’t think it’ll hurt him to stay longer but I think he is fast enough and smart enough and good enough to play in the NHL um after one more season at BC i think uh yeah he’s just going to progress even more next year with all the talent that Greg Brown keeps bringing into Boston College and uh just to play in the Hockey East too now we have the CHL coming down such a competitive conference as we saw last year i think it was seven teams from the Hockey East made the NCAA tournament so great spot to develop as a as a young player and um yeah I expect I think more teams more and more teams NHL teams to take uh chances on these NCAA guys so yeah I want him to stay longer and just keep developing his game cuz he’s he’s solid right now i don’t think there’s any rush to the NHL so what what’s your read on Dean Lerno uh a lot of hype around him and then there’s been this drop off i just think people need to chill give the guy a chance he’s going to be in a development camp coming up at the end of June beginning of July for the Bruins but what’s your read on him obviously his height a big factor and and maybe his development uh timeline or curve yeah I think people have been a little hard on him last year um tough to to play a lot on that BC roster last year too but um I think he got a little bit of a chance in the in the bean pot getting some first line time too and like you said his size is he’s obviously got the NHL body um trying to figure out how to use his size i think he’s going to be a threat and just again giving them time giving these kids time to develop they’re so young and when you’re playing in a a tough conference like the Hockey East it sometimes it takes a a little bit longer but um we’ve seen guys this size succeed in the NHL obviously and it’s always nice to have that big guy so I think he’s going to keep getting his chance and uh expect him to get a little more time under Greg Brown this year at BC so I’m excited to see him keep developing i think he’s a solid player great kid we got a player not catching so much heat but definitely a lot of hype minnesota native Will Zeers and we’re looking forward to what he’s going to bring to the Bees potentially in development camp what can you tell us about him also what part of Minnesota are you from i forgot to ask bloomington Minnesota so he’s a major grow kid I believe yeah but uh yeah no Zeller is hell of a player anytime you can score 44 goals and in my opinion the best development league in the world in the US it’s it’s stands for stands alone like he’s he was I think he had like 15 more goals than anyone else in the US or up there i mean he uh really showed us his his his stride and how how good he can be and we’ll see what he does here at North Dakota this upcoming season i mean his playmaking ability is unbelievable so great shot speed and hands i think uh if I’m a defender I’m scared he’s going to attack you so you got to have your head on a swivel for that kid and he’s shown what he can do at Green Bay this past season USHL and I think North Dakota he’s going to get tested you know at an NCHC very tough conference as well so he’ll have some talent in there i know North Dakota fans should be really excited they will be excited to see him and watch him every Friday and Saturday in NODAK so yeah this the sky’s is the limit for this guy and uh very high ceiling i think uh Bruins fans should be really excited um about this kid great trade what you know there’s so much information now obviously with the internet uh you can look anything up and goals and stats only say part of the story when you’re looking at players what are you looking at and what are you looking for outside of statistics yeah I just think who they are as a as a person i know for for my company and everything college hockey I like to do my research on the guys that we bring on our podcast Pucks in Deep or just the guys that we do day in the life videos with but we always like to to work with great people and we I’ve got to meet so many through the game um from Boston very own Matt Baldi is one of my favorite kids like it goes a long way with the coaches it goes a long way in the locker room so and just maturity like the the video I just did with Colin Potter he’s such a mature kid and he’s already a pro and he was 17 this past season at ASU then turned 18 in January but just the kind of person he is it speaks volumes and then you see you know what he’s doing in the weight room how you know first at practice last elite practice like that’s that’s what you’re looking for I think as a coach and um a lot of these kids have that and they’ve worked so hard to get to this point so but yeah you need to be personable and and have a good work ethic and all the a lot of these guys do so um I think that’s what coaches are looking for and guys that are coachable too that’s uh that’s always you know what what coaches look for when they’re young uh players are coming through absolutely i’ll let Case Sorry Casey I’ll let you ask the last question but just a quick comment on that just how the preparation in college hockey like the dressing rooms the equipment rooms like how they’ve changed over the years is absolutely wild when you’re going to visit some of these colleges just as good as the NHL like the equipment prep meals all that kind of stuff so just wanted to throw that in there but Casey go ahead with the with the last question here no the developments have been pretty sick i actually just want to know what one of your favorite interviews have been you had one of my favorites on Johnny Laz that’s how I found everything college hockey um and you talk about character and stuff like that and I think that’s becoming even more crucial because you’re looking at young guys that have the potential to be leaders earlier in their careers so anyone that jumps off the page I know you can’t single anyone out without making anyone feel bad but um after so much cool work there has to be someone that jumps off um yeah there’s a lot i don’t want to just list one name i I mentioned Baldi it was one of them uh one early on that that kind of got me going was Bruins goender Jeremy Swayman that was really cool for me and what he did at Maine and I know they got boy coming now from for for dev camp from Maine as well just goalie factory out at Maine but uh so so many great kids cellrini most humble kid i remember we did the video with him last year and we knew he was going number one but just I remember meeting him in the locker room just a normal kid so humble and then you see his work ethic and I was just blown away i thought he could have been in the NHL two seasons ago he’s that good so um yeah you know I love there’s so many good people in hockey and I think these coaches like we just mentioned are really looking out for kids like this um obviously the talent speaks for itself but if you can be a good person off the ice it goes a long way and builds builds our hockey community so to you guys giving the world what they want some great content swayman’s got some great oneliners and Celibbrini and Smith out west i feel like we just need to find a way to get them back on the East Coast so that they can do the tandem two of everything out here james thank you so much for your time and taking the time to join us give us your insight give Bruins fans hope for some of these guys that are going to be coming down the pipeline through development camp but more importantly check out everything college hockey

The 2025 NHL Draft is this upcoming Friday and Saturday, the Boston Bruins has the 7th overall pick and there are plenty of rumors flying around about draft day deals. College hockey expert James Murray joins the show today and broke down some of his favorite players in the 2025 NHL Draft. Sophia Jurksztowicz and Kasey Hudson ask him about top prospects James Hagens, Matthew Schaefer, and so many more!

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