New York Islanders prospect Cole Eiserman and 2025 draft-eligible prospect James Hagens have known each other for quite some time. 

The two played for the US National Development Team Program and shared the international stage together, winning gold on multiple occasions.

When it was time to attend school, Eiserman chose Boston University, where he had just completed a tremendous freshman season. He led freshmen with 25 goals and 36 points, adding 11 assists. 

Hagens, from Hauppauge, should have been a senior in high school this past season, but chose to head to school early, enrolling in Boston College. He recorded 37 points (11 goals, 26 assists) in 37 games, becoming the 11th player in NCAA history to be a point-per-game player or better as a freshman. 

You may look at this list and think, okay, Hagens isn't as good as the others on this list. You have to remember that Boston College played a very defensive style this season, following their loss in the finals the year before. You also have to remember his age, as he turned 18 this past November. 

Anyway, back to the Eiserman-Hagens connection. 

In their U-17 season, Eiserman scored 43 goals with Hagens earning assists on 26 of them. Of those 26 assists, 16 were primary assists. Both playing up on the U-18 team as 17-year-olds, Hagens contributed to 11 of Eiserman’s 26 goals.

Quick math: Hagens assisted on 54% of Eiserman's goals.

USA Hockey’s NTDP (@USAHockeyNTDP) on X Eiserman from Hagens..... sounds familiar #FourNations

But like a CVS receipt, we got more coming. 

Eiserman set a USNTDP program record with 127 goals in his two seasons there. Hagens recorded 54 assists on those 127 goals: 34 were primary and 20 were secondary. 

Pulling out the calculator, Hagens assisted on 43% of Eiserman's goals. 

The two didn't connect at the 2025 IIHF World Junior Championships with Hagens playing alongside Ryan Leonard and Gabriel Perreault, his Boston College linemates, while Eiserman played more of a 13th forward, power-play specialist role. 

While we are on the World Junior topic, Hagens recorded nine points (five goals, four assists) in seven games this past tournament, his draft-eligible year. 

Just to put things into perspective, New Jersey Devils forward Jack Hughes recorded just four assists in four games during his draft-eligible year international tournament. Utah Mammoth forward Logan Cooley recorded six points (two goals, four assists) in five games in his draft year tournament. 

Hagens is going to be a stud, I truly believe that. 

I spoke to Eiserman about his relationship with Hagens:

It's one thing for the Islanders to snag Eiserman, the best pure goal scorer in his draft class at No. 20 back in 2024. It would be another thing to find a way to trade back into the first round to snag Hagens.

Each team in the NHL has a dynamic duo. 

The Islanders have Mathew Barzal and Bo Horvat.  The back-to-back Stanley Cup champions have Aleksander Barkov and Matthew Tkachuk. The back-to-back runner-up Edmonton Oilers have Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl.

None had played together before getting to the NHL. 

What an advantage it would be for the Islanders to have two players who have chemisty already start their NHL careers together and be able to be a dyanmic duo for over a decade. 

However, if the Islanders don't take Hagens with the first overall pick -- they are likely to take defenseman Matthew Schaefer -- it will be a tough task trading back into the first round. 

I don't think Hagens will be pulling an Adam Fox to become an Islander, and the question is, how much does Darche value having Hagens to pair with Eiserman?

I heard that Eiserman asked Darche to draft Hagens, as it's clear that he wants his best friend to be part of the organization pretty badly. 

The NHL Draft begins on June 27. We'll see if the Islanders can make a trade to bring Hagens home. 

Stay updated with the most interesting Islanders stories, analysis, breaking news and more! Tap the star to add us to your favorites on Google News to never miss a story.