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Bruins NHL Draft live coverage: Boston take four centers
The Bruins have added five forwards and two defensemen in the 2025 NHL Draft.
The stage is finally set for the 2025 NHL Draft.
For the first time in 14 years, the Bruins are set to pick in the top 10 — with Boston holding onto the No. 7 pick.
The Bruins have a prime opportunity to add a blue-chip talent to their system, but Don Sweeney also stressed that Boston will leave no stone unturned when it comes to acquiring assets — even if that means trading more draft capital (or players).
Round 1 of the NHL Draft is set for 7 p.m. on Friday, while Rounds 2-7 will be held on Saturday — starting at 12 p.m.
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Here’s a look at Boston’s full draft selections:
- Round 1, pick 7 (James Hagens, C, Boston College)
- Round 2, pick 51 (William Moore, C, U.S. National Team Development Program)
- Round 2, pick 61 (Liam Pettersson, D, Vaxjo)
- Round 3, pick 79 (Cooper Simpson, LW, Shakopee High School – MN)
- Round 4, pick 100 (D Vashek Blanar, IF Troja-Ljungby J18)
- Round 4, pick 108 (TRADED TO TAMPA for 2026 fourth-round pick)
- Round 5, pick 133 (Cole Chandler, C, Shawinigan Cataractes)
- Round 6, pick 165 (Kirill Yemelyanov, C, Loko Yaroslavl)
Follow along with our live coverage as we give you up-to-the-minute updates on Boston’s draft haul:
LIVE COVERAGE
7:00: A look at Boston’s draft class:
5:37: Based on Nadeau’s comments, it looks as though the Bruins prioritized skill in this draft grouping:
“I think having more picks and having some higher picks allowed us to probably look at some players with with a bit more offensive ability and upside that sometimes — in the areas where we tended to be picking, we didn’t have some of those players available.
“Or the players that were — there’s a lot of risk associated sometimes with that player, whether they’re undersized, or whether they’re physically underdeveloped, or whether there’s just a real major lack of detail in their game. Where there’s other players sitting there at the same spot, where you maybe really appreciate their attention to detail, their heaviness, their hardness.
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“So we didn’t shy away from some of that. I just think we ended up in a spot this year where we could really take some swings at some sort of higher upside offensive players that maybe in the past, we haven’t had as many swings on that style of player.”
5:30: Bruins director of amateur scouting Ryan Nadeau on James Hagens’ production this past year:
“James is a really good facilitator coming up the ice and attacking with speed. A lot of what he does, he does very well and effectively when he has the puck himself. I thought his production was solid. He had a strong World Junior — his U18 last year, set the bar really high, obviously, with whole season last year at the NTDP.
“It set a high bar for maybe a production standard that people maybe thought was going to be a little bit higher than where it was this year. But I don’t think it’s an alarming thing for us at all. James helped drive a lot of play. Love the way that he can play with pace and attack with pace. Controlled pucks offensively. Just a real exciting player for us.”
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3:55: With their projected final pick of the 2025 NHL Draft, the Bruins select select center Kirill Yemelyanov with pick 165.
The 6-foot center played for Loko Yaroslavl in MHL (Russian junior hockey league) this past season — scoring 13 goals and 23 points over 35 games.
Yemelyanov was ranked as the No. 116 prospect in this draft class by Elite Prospects, and No. 67 overall by FCHockey.
3:18: With pick No. 133, the Bruins select center Cole Chandler. 6-foot-1 center from Nova Scotia. Posted 32 points (13 goals, 19 assists) in 64 games with the Shawinigan Cataractes in the Q.
2:45: Boston will not make the pick at No. 108. They have traded it to Tampa for the Lightning’s own fourth-round selection.
2:35: Bruins take Vashek Blanar of Czechia with the No. 100 selection.
Not a whole lot of information on Blanar, who is also know by Vashek Richards. A 6-foot-4 left-shot D who was born in Colorado, but plays for Czechia. He played this past season with IF Troja-Ljungby in the Swedish junior leagues.
2:31: Good on Norwell’s Teddy Mutryn getting selected 95th overall by San Jose.
2:02: With pick 79, the Bruins select LW Cooper Simpson.
Played this past year at Shakopee High School in Minnesota — leading all Minnesota high school skaters in goals with 49 over 31 games.
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Will play at North Dakota next season.
1:38: The Bruins are making a trade with Montreal — trading pick No. 69 in exchange for picks 79 and 108.
1:23: Bruins will be picking early in the third round with pick No. 69.
1:16: With the 61st pick, the Bruins have selected Swedish left-shot D Liam Pettersson.
6-foot-2, puck-moving blueliner who is viewed as a bit of a project — was tabbed as the No. 94 prospect on Elite Prospects. Scored six goals and 21 points in 39 games for Vaxjo in the J20 Nationell last season.
However, SportlogiQ tabbed him as the No. 68 prospect in the draft — comparing him to another playmaking blueliner in Travis Sanheim.
1:06: William Moore has quite the story: Moore is a skilled piano player — winning the Little Mozarts International Competition and performing at New York’s Carnegie Hall at just 10 years old.
12:54: With the 51st pick, the Bruins select Center/Wing William Moore out of the U.S. National Team Development Program.
6-foot-2, left-shot center is viewed as a strong two-way player who posted 59 points in 64 games with the U.S. NTDP last year. Moore is expected to join Boston College this upcoming season.
Was given a No. 34 consolidated ranking on Elite Prospects, so he represents good value for Boston.
12:47: A lot of appealing targets getting plucked right before Boston lands on the board. Max Psenicka is another big right-shot D, while Shane Vansaghi is a power-forward wing.
12:30: Would have loved Carter Amico on the Bruins (BU bias aside). Big, mobile right-shot D. Instead, he goes to Philly.
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If the Bruins are prioritizing RHD, there should still be several options in the second round.
11:48: Greetings from TD Garden for Rounds 2-7.
Boston should a prime opportunity to add a scoring wing and a physical defenseman with their two second-round picks.
Here’s a look at 10 potential second-round options for Boston.
12:30: That’ll do it from Day 1 of the 2025 NHL Draft. More tomorrow!
11:34: As far as whether or not Hagens could open next year with Boston, this is Sweeney’s reply:
“We will just incrementally have discussions about where he’s at. There will be no hurry to try and fast track James,. I’d say that about every player, if something somewhere between now and then that changes, and we feel differently about it as we’re evaluating — we may make that decision.
“I know he’d like to play right away. I’m sure every guy that was drafted tonight thinks they might be able to play in the National Hockey League, but we’ll allow that to take a more natural course and make the right decision for James in the organization.”
11:30: Don Sweeney on if Hagens could be a top-line player:
“He’s been that way his whole life — in terms of what he’s done,” Sweeney said of Hagens’ track record. So we just hope the natural progression is you’ll be able to do at the NHL level.
“Again, it’s a tough league. You find out that when you get in. You realize that you’re in a much deeper pool of players and he’ll have his own challenges. “But I think he’s driven to be that top player and wants to be a difference maker.”
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11:17: James Hagens is going to have a chip on his shoulder moving forward:
10:15: James Hagens just spoke with the media via Zoom.
Here are some highlights:
8:55: Kind of surprised to see Victor Eklund still available.
8:23: Radim Mrtka goes to Buffalo at No. 9. Second D is off the board.
8:15: Jake O’Brien goes to Seattle at No. 8 overall.
8:07: James Hagens is a Boston Bruin.
Boston picks him at No. 7 overall — with Adam Sandler making the move.
Hagens is a great value pickup for the Bruins at No. 7 overall — giving Boston a high-end center who was projected to be the No. 1 pick in the 2025 NHL Draft.
Hagens — who was projected to be the top pick in the 2025 NHL Draft class going into the 2024-25 season — saw his stock slip on draft night.
The 5-foot-11 center appeared in 37 games for Boston College during the 2024-25 season, recording 11 goals and 26 assists for 37 points, with a plus-21 rating. He ranked third among Boston skaters and fourth among NCAA freshmen in points, earning a spot on the Hockey East All-Rookie Team.
The reason for Hagens’ slide on Friday was two-fold — with concerns over his smaller frame and somewhat underwhelming production in his first year of college hockey.
Hagens’ 37 points didn’t match the production generated by other selections like Michael Misa (62 goals, 134 points in 65 games in the OHL) or Jake O’Brien (32 goals, 98 points in 66 games in the OHL).
But Hagens’ level of competition — especially in Hockey East — was far more daunting than what phenoms like Misa and Co. feasted on in the Canadian Junior ranks.
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Still, scouts were likely expecting a No. 1 pick like Hagens to mimic the standout collegiate seasons orchestrated by other generational freshmen talents like Jack Eichel (71 points in 40 games), Adam Fantilli (65 points in 36 games), and Macklin Celebrini (64 points in 38 games) over the last decade.
Speaking last month, Hagens said that he was satisfied with his freshman year at Chesnut Hill.
“I thought I had a great season. You’re playing against guys that are 25, 24 years old every night. It’s tough,” Hagens said. “It’s hard hockey, but I’m super grateful to be able to have the year that I was able to have with the group of guys that we did have.”
Even if his freshman year was underwhelming to some talent evaluators, Hagens has an established track record of dicing up opposing defenses.
During the 2023-24 season, Hagens racked up 102 points (39 goals, 63 assists) in 58 games with the U.S. U-18 National Development Program — a higher scoring total than submitted by the likes of Ryan Leonard (94), Phil Kessel (98 points), and Matthew Tkachuk (95 points) during their respective U18 campaigns.
The only players in that program to equal or surpass that scoring total in a single season? Patrick Kane, Cole Eiserman, Clayton Keller, Jack Hughes, Auston Matthews, Will Smith, and Gabe Perreault.
Hagens also set a new scoring record at the 2024 World U18 Championships with 22 points (nine goals, 13 assists) in just seven games, breaking the previous record set by Nikita Kucherov.
The game tape doesn’t lie when it comes to Hagens — who is arguably the most dynamic skater and playmaker in this draft class.
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“I love making plays,” Hagens said of his approach on the ice last month. “I love being able to find a guy back door, that’s something that I feel like is a big part of my game, my whole entire career. So I wouldn’t say that I ever deflect away from shooting the puck. I know when to shoot and when to pass.
“Just something that really helps take my game [to] the next level is the way I’m able to kind of find other guys. … College — it’s a different level of hockey. It’s harder. It’s not junior hockey. It’s tough to score every given night. It’s low-scoring games. You have to work to score goals.”
He’ll likely return to the Eagles for his sophomore season, but he could potentially make the jump up to the NHL as soon as his collegiate season wraps.
“I love winning. I will do anything to win,” Hagens said in May. Something that’s helped me get to the point where I am today is just how hard I’ve been able to work my whole life. Nothing’s ever come easy. I’ve had to work for everything that I’ve ever gotten before, and that’s something I’m super grateful for.
“That’s something that’s just within my family, something that I was raised up, taught from my parents and my coaches. So, going into those meetings just really expressing how hard I compete, and how badly I want to be on a team and hopefully win a Stanley Cup one day.”
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More on Hagens below:
8:00: The Bruins have a shot at:
James Hagens
Jake O’Brien
Roger McQueen
7:54: A surprise. Brady Martin goes to Nashville.
Bruins will be able to get at least one of O’Brien, Hagens, Martone, McQueen.
Philly is now on the clock.
7:52: Nashville now on the clock. Could go with Hagens, or perhaps a winger like Porter Martone.
7:41: Utah goes with Caleb Desnoyers. A very strong two-way player, could be a great 2C behind Logan Cooley.
7:35: Anton Frondell goes to Chicago at No. 3. A pro-ready center. So far, no surprises in this draft order.
7:31: This draft is going to take … some time.
7:28: Michael Misa goes to San Jose at No. 2. The best forward in the draft, IMO. San Jose has a stacked forward corps moving forward.
7:20: Yeah, this format ain’t it. Legitimately feels like a COVID-era system.
7:15: Indeed, it’s Matthew Schaefer going No. 1 to New York. He’s going to be a great pro.
7:05: The NHL Draft is about to begin. Sure feels like Matthew Schaefer is going first overall to the Isles. After that, it could be chaos.
6:46: A team worth watching now is the Islanders — especially with numerous reports noting that they want to trade up into the top-10 once again to select James Hagens. If Hagens is there at No. 7 for Boston, would you accept a sizable return from New York?
Personally, if a player of Hagens’ caliber is there at 7, you take him and you don’t think twice.
6:33: It’s already been a busy day across the NHL before Round 1 even begins:
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– Charlie Coyle traded to Columbus
– Trent Frederic signs an 8-year deal with Edmonton
– New CBA struck with NHL/NHLPA
– Sam Bennett signs an 8×8 contract with Florida
– Islanders trade Noah Dobson to Montreal for Picks No. 16 and 17
6:29: As we wait to see how the draft board shakes out, here’s a few NHL Draft previews of some possible targets for Boston at No. 7.
Jake O’Brien — a poised, playmaking center.
James Hagens — the former projected No. 1 pick who could be a steal if he slides.
Roger McQueen — a 6-foot-5 center with high upside, but with injury concerns.
6:20: Greetings from TD Garden! The first round of the NHL Draft will begin at 7 p.m., while Don Sweeney will speak to the media after the first round wraps.
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