OTTAWA, Ontario — James Hagens watched Macklin Celebrini closely last season as the player eventually picked No. 1 at the NHL Draft went about his business on the ice in impressive fashion. Hagens was perhaps even more focused on how Celebrini stayed sharp amid all the attention.
"Never let anything affect him," he said. "You always saw him calm and collected. He went about it every day just working toward getting better.
Everything works its way out." It's an approach Hagens brought to his freshman NCAA season at Boston College facing similar expectations and has carried to the 2025 world junior hockey tournament. The 18-year-old center, who's in the mix to be the top pick in June, had five goals and 15 assists in 16 games at Boston College before joining the U.
S. team for the under-20 tournament. Celebrini had a banner 2023-24 season with 32 goals and 32 assists in 38 games with Boston University.
He guided the Terriers to the Frozen Four and won the Hobey Baker Award as the top player in U.S. college hockey before getting his name called first by the San Jose Sharks.
People are also reading...
Hagens has similar dreams as he navigates what can be a head-spinning draft process. "I've never seen him at all worried," Boston College associate coach Brendan Buckley told the Canadian Press. "He just goes about his business with a smile.
You would never know he has all those expectations. He's just one of the guys." Buckley was impressed when informed the player from Hauppauge,.
