The Boston Bruins’ prospect pool is more talented and deeper than it’s been in a long time, and two of the top players in the system will try to help the United States win the gold medal at the IIHF World Junior Championship for the third straight year.
Team USA’s preliminary round schedule begins Friday at 6 p.m. ET against Germany. This year’s tournament is being played in St. Paul, Minnesota.
Boston College forward James Hagens, who the B’s selected with the No. 7 overall pick in the 2025 NHL Draft, is one of the best players on Team USA’s roster. Hagens has tallied 18 points (10 goals, eight assists) in 16 games for BC this season. He has almost matched his goal total from 2024-25 when he scored 11 times in 37 games.
Hagens shined at last year’s World Juniors. He scored five goals with four assists in seven games, including a goal in the gold medal game against Finland. He is expected to play a prominent role for Team USA at this year’s tournament as the projected first-line center. The BC star also was selected as one of the team’s alternate captains.
Hagens is joined on Team USA’s roster by Bruins prospect Will Zellers, who Boston acquired from the Colorado Avalanche as part of the Charlie Coyle trade last February.
Zellers is off to a hot start for the University of North Dakota with 15 points (10 goals, five assists) in 18 games as a freshman. The 2024 third-round pick is a gifted goal scorer. Zellers probably will play a bottom-six role for the Americans at this tournament.
Hagens and Zellers aren’t the only Bruins prospects who will participate at the World Juniors.
Vashek Blanar, who the Bruins drafted in the fourth round back in June, will play for Czechia. It will be the 18-year-old defenseman’s first experience at this tournament.
