Growing up on Long Island, James Hagens wanted nothing more than to be selected by the team he grew up rooting for, the New York Islanders.Though that dream failed to materialize at the NHL draft on Friday night,

The Boston Bruins pulled off a great feat at the 2025 NHL draft: they got a super-talented player lower than expected, while adding another chapter to the rivalry between Boston sports fans and New York sports fans by snapping up center James Hagens.

The Bruins selected Hagens, who grew up an Islanders fan in Hauppauge and attends Boston College, with the seventh overall pick in the NHL Draft on Friday night at the Peacock Theater. He matches Mike Komisarek, who was selected seventh overall by the Canadiens in 2001, as the highest-ever pick from Long Island.