The Bruins lost for the third straight game Sunday, but their playoff odds still sat at 97.3 percent after they banked a point in an overtime loss to the Flyers. Boston has scored three goals in its last three games, a stretch that has left the offense searching for anything that can change the mood in a hurry.
That is where James Hagens enters the picture. The Bruins drafted him seventh overall in the 2025 NHL Draft, and Boston still has the option to sign him to his entry-level contract and add him to the NHL roster for the stretch run and a likely playoff appearance. Hagens has spent this season on an AHL amateur tryout contract with the Providence Bruins, where he has one goal and three assists in six games after posting 47 points in 34 games as a sophomore at Boston College.
The need is obvious. Boston's power play has converted 15.6 percent of its chances over the last 20 games, a mark that ranked 28th, and the group has looked stuck since the Olympic break. The Bruins are still inching closer to a playoff berth, but the recent slide has exposed how thin the margin can feel when goals are hard to find.
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Sunday also offered a glimpse of the player the Bruins passed over one pick after taking Hagens. Porter Martone, selected one spot earlier in the 2025 NHL Draft, set up the Flyers' goal in regulation and then scored his first pro goal in overtime. He had spent the winter at Michigan State and put up 50 points in 35 games, a reminder that the draft's top names can move quickly when the season turns.
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Boston has not made a final call on Hagens, but the path is there if the club wants it. With four games left in the regular season and a playoff spot still likely, the Bruins could choose to bring in a young forward who has already shown he can produce, even if they have preferred a more conservative route so far with Providence.
