What’s next for James Hagens? And other college recruiting notes

Where will James Hagens land in this recruiting cycle? (Al Aleman Photography)

Some notes from the college hockey recruiting world, with several New York-area standouts highlighted below:

All eyes are on James Hagens and where he picks to play college hockey.

Harvard was the favorite, but Mark Divver reported on Aug. 30 that Harvard is out as Hagens’ future spot. Michael Hagens, James’ brother, was committed to Harvard but has reopened his recruitment. On Sept. 10, Divver reported that the brothers visited Notre Dame and Michigan in recent weeks. According to a source, the family has wrapped up visiting schools.

James is currently evaluating all of his options, including going the Patrick Kane route, according to the same source. That would mean no college hockey.

From 2004-06, Kane, from Buffalo, N.Y., played for the NTDP team, but his draft year wasn’t until 2007. He spent the 2006-07 season playing for the Ontario Hockey League’s London Knights, where he notched 62 goals and 145 points in 58 games. That helped him become the No. 1 pick in the 2007 NHL Draft.

Hagens is on a similar track. The Hauppauge, N.Y., native and Mount St. Charles star was a standout with the NTDP U17 team last year and presumably will continue his dominance with the U18 squad this season. He isn’t eligible for the NHL Draft until 2025.

Boston University secures Zachary Morin and Charlie Tretheway

The Terriers are no strangers to drawing big-name talent, and on Aug. 23 and 24 they continued their trend.

It started with Morin, who was one of the top prospects in this recruiting class. An ’07, Morin made headlines in January for tendering with the USHL’s Youngstown Phantoms — the team he will play for this season. The 6-foot-2, 174-pound center spent last season lighting it up with Little Caesars 15U, scoring 58 goals and adding 72 assists in 77 games.

The coolest part for BU? Morin also committed to the lacrosse team, too. Quite the two-sport athlete.

Head coach Jay Pandolfo‘s team also earned a commitment from Trethewey, a defenseman who will play this season with the United States National Team Development Program. The 6-foot-1, 190-pound defender played with Morin last season, posting 20 goals and 86 points in 81 games.

Morin and Trethewey join Conrad Fondrk and Jack Murtagh as BU’s choices for this class. So far, so good for the Terriers.

UConn makes a big splash

The Huskies had been quiet since Aug. 1. That all changed on Sept. 7 when head coach Mike Cavanaugh’s team got a commitment from Colin Frank.

Frank, a Ladera Ranch, Calif., native, has been a fixture on the West Coast hockey scene for quite some time. He scored 57 goals and added 69 assists in 73 games for the Anaheim Jr. Ducks 16U team last season.

In the last two years, however, Frank has thrived on the national stage. At USA Hockey’s Select 17 Camp in June, he led the tournament in points with 11 in six games. He followed that up with three assists in five games at the Hlinka Gretzky Cup. Last year, he scored three goals and totaled eight points in five games at Select 16s.

Frank will play for the USHL’s Dubuque Fighting Saints in 2023-24 and when the time comes for him to arrive in Storrs, Conn., it will be a big deal.

Tyler Russo chooses Minnesota State

It’s not every year that a New England chooses a school so far outside the region, but Russo, a defenseman at Cushing, did that on Aug. 27 when he announced his commitment to Minnesota State. Russo has family who live near Minnesota State.

The 6-foot-1, 176-pound defenseman, has made a name for himself as a strong, puck-moving defenseman. He enters the 2023-24 season as Cushing’s No. 1 defenseman and will play a massive role for them.

Earlier this year, he was drafted 33rd overall by the Cedar Rapids RoughRiders in the USHL Futures Draft.

Quinnipiac gets a commitment from Matthew Lansing

Earlier this week, Quinnipiac bolstered its latest recruiting class with Lansing. The Tonawanda, N.Y., native has made a name for himself with the Buffalo Jr. Sabres over the last bunch of years.

At 6 feet and 174 pounds, the center had a great showing at Select 16 Camp this summer, scoring three goals and adding an assist in five games. He plays for the Buffalo Jr. Sabres 16U team, which features Harvard commit Niles Benson.

Merrimack bolsters its ’06 class

Prior to Aug. 1, Merrimack had made strong additions to its recruiting class of 2006-born players. Head coach Scott Borek’s team had commitments from forwards Jack Good, Luke Goukler, Thomas Zocco and Ethan Merner.

That group of ’06s has been strengthened in recent weeks.

Merrimack got a commitment from Cole Longacre on Aug. 18, giving the Warriors their first ’06 defenseman. Longacre, from Sewell, N.J., comes in at 6-foot-1 and 196 pounds. He spent last season as a 16-year-old in the USHL, scoring one goal and totaling six points in 50 games for Sioux City. Prior to joining Sioux City, he was a standout defender for the Windy City Storm’s 15U squad.

After getting a commitment from Longacre, it wasn’t too long until Merrimack got another from an ’06: David Green. The 6-foot-2, 201-pound defenseman from Toronto, Ont., played with the St. Michael’s Buzzers in the Ontario Junior Hockey League last season, posting three goals and 17 points in 42 games. Prior to that, he developed with the Toronto Marlboros.

UMass Lowell gets commitment from Rowan Guest

The trend sweeping the NHL is teams going for big defensemen. UMass Lowell seems to be following.

Guest is a 6-foot-5, 179-pound, defenseman from Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. He spent the 2022-23 season with Pacific Coast Academy U18 Prep and will do so again this season. Last year, he scored six goals and tallied 15 assists in 33 games.

It’s head coach Norm Bazin and his staff’s first commit from this recruiting class.

Harvard adds another strong prospect

No team has been busier since Aug. 1 than Harvard. Head coach Ted Donato’s team has been hard at work crafting its most recent recruiting class.

On Aug. 18, Harvard got a commitment from forward Evan Malkhassian. From Willowdale, Ont., the right-shot had 13 goals and 36 points in 36 games for the Toronto Jr. Canadiens U16 team last season. In 2023-24, he’s playing for the OJHL’s Toronto Jr. Canadiens.