You have to take notice of what James Hagens is doing at the U-18 World Championship

Steven Ellis
Steven Ellis
James Hagens (Steven Ellis/Daily Faceoff)
Credit: Steven Ellis/Daily Faceoff

ESPOO, Fin. – We’re witnessing absolute greatness in Finland right now.

There’s an arms race going on at the U-18 World Hockey Championship in Espoo and Vantaa. On one side, Gavin McKenna – the 2026 NHL Draft wunderkind – is fresh off a six-point performance to put him at 14 points in four games. He’s five points away from passing Alexander Ovechkin and Mikhail Grigorenko for the most points by a 16-year-old at this tournament.

At the same time, James Hagens—the top prospect for 2025—has 16 points in just four games—an average of four a game—and is just six points away from breaking Nikita Kucherov’s long-standing all-time record, regardless of age.

But no performance was as impressive as his six-point game against Finland on Tuesday in the battle for first place in Group A, with Hagens pulling off one of the greatest single-game performances of all time. McKenna had a six-point night, too, but it came against a Kazakh team headed to the relegation round. If it wasn’t for Hagens’ massive display, the Americans might have lost to the hometown Finns and lost the top spot in the round-robin.

“He’s just playing the game the right way,” said USA Hockey National Team Development Program coach Nick Fohr. “That’s something we’ve preached for two years, is to do things right.”

Last season at the U-17 World Hockey Challenge, Hagens smashed the previous tournament scoring record of 18 points set by Colin White in 2013 by finishing with 21, one more than his linemate Cole Eiserman. Many of the same names near the top of that scoring pilon – Ovechkin, Jack Hughes, Cole Caufield – are among the biggest stars at the U-18 tournament, too.

“He’s a hell of a player,” defenseman Cole Hutson said. “Our team, we need him. He’s a huge factor on our team. It’s a huge blast to have him.”

This is Hagens’ second U-18 World Championship, having played a significant role alongside Eiserman at last year’s tournament. He had a quieter showing, scoring just five points in seven games en route to a gold, but you can still see the pure skill and the way he thinks the game.

“He’s so fast, he creates so much time and space,” former linemate Will Vote said. “He’s a playmaker and a goal scorer. He sees the ice so well and so quickly. He can play with anyone.”

Hagens has drawn comparisons to Jack Hughes at the same age. Hughes had the hockey IQ advantage, , but both are tremendous two-way players with high-level skill, speed, and playmaking abilities. Hughes is the all-time USNTDP scoring champion at 228 points in just 110 games, with Hagens sitting at 181 over 115.

Hagens likely won’t be the same quality player as Hughes, who truly was ahead of the pack by miles at the time, but there’s an argument to be made that Hagens has had to do more with less. Hughes had Caufield as his No. 1 winger throughout the two years, but he also skated alongside Matt Boldy and Trevor Zegras at points. Hagens, for the most part, has done some heavy lifting for the USNTDP over the past two years.

But that doesn’t change the fact Hagens is playing at a different level right now. Hughes finished with 20 points in seven games back in 2019. At his current pace, Hagens is set to tie that in the quarterfinal game against Switzerland, a game the Americans look destined to win.

“You’re looking at him, and you’re just going, ‘Oh, how did that go in? (It didn’t) even look like there’s room for it to go in,’ Fohr said. “He’s just playing great and doing a lot of really good things.”

An event like this is so important because it showcases the top draft talent, but Hagens – a late birthday at Nov. 3, 2006 – isn’t eligible until 2025. Yet scouts have been just as interested in the Boston College commit as much as anyone.

“You watch what he does, the magic he makes happen, the moves he pulls off and you just wonder how it’s possible,” a scout said. “And you see it against the college kids too. He’s not just beating up on minnows. He can dominate older, stronger, better competition at a level few have managed to do in recent years.”

What’s the secret sauce, the thing that makes Hagens at the top of the class already?

“His skating and playmaking are just in its own world,” another said. “It’s effortless. He’s so slick as a skater. He makes it look so easy. He’s great in small areas; he’s just built like an athlete.”

Hagens isn’t big at 5-foot-10, the same size as Hughes at the same age. But he’s so athletic, strong and agile that the smaller frame shouldn’t impact him. Hagens can still get caught trying to do too much, something that was evident early on in this tournament, but he can simplify things and be just as effective as he is when he’s overpowering opponents with skill.

Hagens will help fill the hole left by Cutter Gauthier at BC next year and should play a huge part on USA’s world junior team. Hagens is a star in the making – someone who really, truly, deserves the attention he’s receiving. He’s about to become the eighth player in USNTDP history to break the 100-point barrier, joining the likes of Hughes, Caufield, Auston Matthews and a few other elite talents.

For the next few days in Finland, he’ll look to win gold for the second consecutive year and finish his two-year run with the famed program in the best possible way. McKenna might be doing some incredible work with Canada, but in a must-win situation, there might not be a better player than Hagens right now.

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