BOSTON — Don Sweeney didn’t get cute. He didn’t get antsy or overthink the situation.
When the good fortune shone on the Bruins at the NHL Draft on Friday, and a player who fit exactly what the franchise needed was available, the general manager simply drafted him.
There were so many rumors about the Islanders trading up to draft James Hagens, a Hauppauge, N.Y, native, that fans at their Long Island draft party actually booed when Adam Sandler revealed the pick wearing his Happy Gilmore Bruins jersey.
Sweeney confirmed that he had received calls from general managers interested in trading for the Bruins’ pick.
But he rejected whatever was on the table and chose Hagens, a player he hopes will be a key piece for the Bruins’ next wave of success.
“We had some opportunities,” Sweeney said. “But when James was there, we felt like we had to make the pick and wanted to make the pick.”
Most of the time, teams need to make their own luck. But there was something serendipitous about the whole progression for the Bruins. After a rough year, they desperately needed some good fortune and Hagens fell into their laps. The Bruins’ lack of a playmaking center was evident all year, and suddenly there he was, gift-wrapped at No. 7.
But it was more than that.
The Bruins had been watching Boston College all year because they had four previous draft picks playing in Chestnut Hill. But for most of that time, getting Hagens, who started the year as a candidate to go No. 1 overall, was a pipe dream.
After unloading key veterans at the trade deadline, Sweeney spent much of the past three months accumulating frequent-flyer miles bouncing around the continent to scout prospects. But the answer was just up the road. Thirty-one of BC’s games were so close that Sweeney could have stayed through the third period and slept at home after the game was over.
But seeing all those other players in all those other places gave Sweeney a better sense that Hagens was special, a kid who already loved the city and chose it as a recruit.
Sweeney sounded like he expected Hagens to spend another year chasing Beanpots and Frozen Fours before tangling with the Canadiens and Panthers, but he’s not far away. Certainly closer than BC teammate Dean Letourneau, Boston’s first-round pick a year ago.
It’s not a stretch to think he’ll be threading passes to David Pastrnak in April of 2026 and for years to come.
Friday felt a little like June 24, 1998. On that night, Celtics fans watched the NBA Draft from Vancouver, never expecting Paul Pierce, who was projected to go in the top five, to fall to all the way to them at 10. But he slid and the Celtics gleefully picked him.
Long before Pierce became a Hall-of-Fame-bound scorer who led Boston to the 2008 NBA title, Pierce represented a reason for optimism from draft day until the start of the season for a reeling Celtics fanbase.
Hagens’ side wasn’t quite as unexpected. possible. There were whispers of that possibility all week, but when Brady Martin went to Nashville at No. 4, it felt a little like Pierce night.
Saying that Hagens could have the hockey version of Pierce’s career would be unfair expectations to place on anybody. He could still be a bust. But right now, he offers real hope and that’s worth something. A Bruins fan on the fence about whether or not to renew their season tickets is more likely to put their annual deposit down than they were a week ago, and they’ll certainly pay added attention to BC.
There are obviously no sure things in any draft, but for the Bruins, this is added reason for optimism that wasn’t there a week ago.
That’s a good start.
