Long Island's James Hagens out to prove he's the best, no matter which NHL team drafts him
James Hagens speaks with the media during the NHL's top prospects media availability on Thursday in Los Angeles. Credit: Getty Images/Bruce Bennett
LOS ANGELES — His uber-competitive nature pushes James Hagens of Hauppauge to believe he should be the first pick in the NHL Draft on Friday night at Peacock Theater.
However, the Islanders, his favorite team growing up, are widely expected to select defenseman Matthew Schaefer first overall. The all-over-the-map mock projections predict Hagens — once considered the likely No. 1 pick — could go anywhere from third to 10th.
The 5-11, 177-pound center, who had 11 goals and 26 assists in 37 games as a Boston College freshman, said on Thursday during his pre-draft media access at the JW Marriott L.A. Live he will not take it as a disappointment if he’s not selected first.
But he will use it as motivation.
“I don’t think you could be disappointed getting picked by any team here,” Hagens said. “So it’s an exciting time. Wherever you go, you just want to be at a place that wants you.
“If I slide, I’ll go to a spot that wants me the most and I’ll prove it on the ice. So I’m not worried about any of that. It’s an honor just being here, being able to get picked. I know that wherever I go, it will be a chip on your shoulder and you have something to prove.”
Hagens did not hesitate when asked what the team that picks him will receive.
“I think they’re just getting a winner,” Hagens said. “Someone that will put his soul and body on the line every day just to win. It doesn’t matter if it’s a practice or if it’s the Stanley Cup Final.”
It’s been a relentless month for Hagens leading up to the NHL Draft, starting with extensive physical testing and interviews with various teams — including the Islanders — at the NHL Scouting Combine in Buffalo the first week of June.
Hagens, who reportedly tested and interviewed very well, called it a learning process.
“You can’t really change what’s going to happen,” Hagens said. “You don’t know where you’re going. Once you do get the opportunity to show it on the ice, you better make sure you run away with it. I have no question about what I am as a hockey player.
“I have no question about where I think I should go [in the draft]. It’s just competitive nature. That’s just my mindset. I just want to be in a spot that wants me. So if that’s one, or any number, it’ll be that and when you step on the ice, that’s when you show you should have been the first.”
The top prospects have gotten to know each other much better in June, between the Combine and pre-draft events. That included a golf outing on Thursday after the prospects fulfilled their media obligations.
Schaefer, who most likely will get what Hagens wants and be selected first, called the Long Island product a “great guy.”
“I played against him in an Under-18 tournament in Finland,” Schaefer said. “I got to know him. I know a lot of the OHL guys better because I got to play against them. But, yeah, he’s a great guy.”
Andrew Gross joined Newsday in 2018 to cover the Islanders. He began reporting on the NHL in 2003 and has previously covered the Rangers and Devils. Other assignments have included the Jets, St. John’s and MLB.
