Bruins draft picks Hagens, Moore shake off travel delays, make 1st skate

BOSTON -- James Hagens and Will Moore would have been forgiven had they found it all too much. After a whirlwind weekend in Los Angeles, where both were selected by the Boston Bruins in the 2025 NHL Draft -- Hagens at No. 7 and Moore at No. 51 -- they were set to head back east on Saturday.

But it wasn’t that easy.

Instead, they found themselves landing in Boston at 3 a.m. Monday, mere hours before they were scheduled to be at the Bruins' practice facility for the start of development camp. After they did their testing, coaches told them that they could skip the on-ice portion and, at 9:30 a.m., the team tweeted out that due to travel delays, they wouldn’t skate.

Meanwhile, Hagens and Moore had taken one look at each other, standing by stalls that were only dreams a mere three days ago, and asked if, instead, they could. Fifteen minutes later, they took the ice in their newly issued Bruins jerseys, their names in white across black name plates.

“When you have a chance to put on the Bruin jersey, you can’t say no,” Hagens said. “It doesn’t matter what flight delay or how much sleep you get, this is a dream come true. This is the first time you put on the jersey -- you’d have to cut off my leg to tell me I couldn’t get on that ice.”

It was a message the Bruins loved hearing.

“It says a lot,” Bruins player development coordinator Adam McQuaid said. “They were given the option, came down and told them and they were like, ‘We want to go on.’ Obviously had a really tough few days with the travel and limited sleep, getting to the hotel at 4 o’clock last night. Came in this morning, did all the off-ice testing and wanted to get on the ice, wanted to get right into the group. So it’s promising. Good sign.”

Originally, they were scheduled on a red-eye at 11 p.m. PT from Los Angeles International Airport to Boston’s Logan Airport. That was canceled. The 4 p.m. flight Sunday that they were rescheduled on? Canceled too.

They finally left at 7 p.m. on Sunday, arriving at 3 a.m. Monday, reaching their hotel at 4 a.m.

Sleeping? There was little time for that.

Hagens and Moore were en route to the Bruins' practice rink a mere 2 hours and 45 minutes later, arriving at 7 a.m. for testing and physicals, taking the ice at 9:45 a.m.

“It was amazing being able to put that jersey on and being able to put on that equipment and step on the ice and be a part of this organization, it’s the coolest feeling in the world to be able to be out there with all those coaches, the players,” Hagens said. “It was really, really cool.”

It was also a bonding experience for two players who could be spending quite a lot of time together in both the near and distant future. Hagens and Moore are also veterans of the United States National Team Development Program, will attend Boston College together next season and are hoping to be big parts of the Bruins’ next generation.

“Definitely build a deeper connection while you’re sleeping together on the floor of the airport,” Moore said. “It was great bonding, building relationships with my future teammates. It’s over, but it was a fun time that I’ll never forget.”

And once they finally, finally got to Boston, it was game on.

“We came in with a positive attitude, ready to work,” Moore said. “Despite me and James’s travel errors, we made it. And we’re happy to be here.”