Boston Bruins
“The things that you’re seeing now, we saw even last year.”
The 2025-26 Bruins are already exceeding a few expectations in Marco Sturm’s first season as head coach.
But as Boston retools its roster in the coming years, a once-stagnant prospect pipeline appears to be cultivating a new wave of top talent.
Look no further than the crop of players taking to the ice at Chestnut Hill, with Bruins prospects James Hagens and Dean Letourneau both dominating in Boston College’s 5-3 win over Notre Dame on Friday afternoon.
Hagens — drafted seventh overall by Boston in the 2025 NHL Draft — led the way for the Eagles with a hat trick. Letourneau — a 2024 first-round pick (No. 25 overall) — added a goal and an assist in the win.
Hagens, who was initially projected by some to be the top pick in the 2025 Draft, has been as advertised in his sophomore campaign at BC.
On an Eagles team dealing with multiple injuries and the loss of several NHL prospects like Ryan Leonard and Gabe Perreault, Hagens has posted 16 points (nine goals, seven assists) over 14 games.
Hagens’ stock dipped last year after recording 37 points in 37 games as a true freshman at BC, with some wanting more high-end stats out of such a blue-chip prospect.
While Hagens is still on track for a little over a point-per-game scoring rate, the eye test so far has been encouraging so far for a skilled prospect whose skating, edge work, and playmaking have been evident on a shorthanded BC squad.
One of the knocks against Hagens has been his habit of operating more along the perimeter as a true freshman. But the sophomore has been much more assertive this season, knocking home his first goal on Friday with a spinning backhander in the crease.
“It’s great,” Hagens said of his recent play. “I don’t think you should ever let any of the outside noise get you at all. But this year, our team’s really found it. We’re on a little stretch here. We’re playing really well.”
Barring injury or a sizable dip in production, the expectation should be for Hagens to make the jump up to the NHL ranks in March or April once the Eagles’ season wraps.
The emergence of Letourneau this year has been arguably the most surprising (and welcome) development within Boston’s farm system.
Deemed a project once Boston selected him in the 2024 NHL Draft, the expectation was that the 6-foot-7 forward was going to need some time to marinate in college after making the jump right from prep level to Hockey East action.
Those growing pains were evident as a freshman with BC, as Letourneau scored zero goals and posted just three assists over 36 games in 2024-25. Even if the expectations were that Letourneau was more of a bottom-six regular as a pro, the Bruins were banking on more baseline scoring output last fall from the gifted forward.
But Letourneau — who stressed his desire to move on from last year’s setbacks — has put that freshman campaign in the rearview mirror.
Following Friday’s win, Letourneau now has six goals and 13 points across 14 games this season — tied for second on the Eagles so far this season.
Letourneau will need more time to develop and round out his imposing frame in the college ranks. But his willingness to use his body to engage down low — coupled with a sharp shot — could make him a viable middle-six contributor in the coming years.
“The things that you’re seeing now, we saw even last year — it just didn’t translate to the games yet because he was young,” BC head coach Greg Brown said Friday. “He’s much stronger now. He’s much more ready for the pace and for the physicality of college hockey.
“So now the good stuff is coming out. We could see that it was there, but now he’s ready to use that. And, yeah, he’s been clearly a huge part of this season and one of our top guys.”
Hagens and Letourneau are far from the only Bruins prospects who have impressed so far this season.
Forward Will Zellers — acquired from Colorado as part of the Charlie Coyle trade last March — has scored seven goals and 11 points across 12 games as a freshman at North Dakota this year.
Zellers, the reigning USHL Player of the Year after scoring 44 goals in 52 games last year in Green Bay, is another prospect with legitimate middle-six upside in Boston’s pipeline.
Add in Boston’s bounty of future first-round picks — four in total over the next two drafts — and the Bruins should have the means to further inject more NHL talent into their system over the next few years.
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