The Flyers may have the sixth pick in the 2025 NHL draft and not the first pick,

but what if they could get the player who this time last year was viewed as the likely

first overall pick in the 2025 NHL draft? Well, that's what they would get in one James

Pagans. Pagans is a hyper-skilled plus skating center who was a point per game player

for Boston College as a freshman. Those are pretty good numbers and a pretty good scouting report.

So why might the 511 186 pound center slip all the way to the flyers at six? Well, let's get into

his strengths and weaknesses and find out. So in talking about James Hagan's strengths, you got to start with the playmaking ability.

He's a legitimately great passer with fantastic vision in the offensive zone.

He's a type of passer who just sees plays develop before they happen and then executes

and finds his teammates for high danger chances and goals.

Hagen's also has high-end puck

skills. He's fully capable of dangling through a defense, and he's very, very good at handling

the puck in traffic, a really important skill for an NHL player. And then there's the skating.

Hagen's skating is great. He's extremely fluid. His edges are sharp. He has real burst. He's a fun skater to watch.

And he also always has a knack seemingly for staying in motion. He's always moving and it makes him

really difficult to defend. This is a guy who has all the tools to be a dominant pup carrier

at the NHL level, given his puck handling ability, given his skating, given his

skill. And he also could be a major offensive weapon, both at 5 on 5 and on the power play.

The upside is real with James Hagan's, and it's very exciting. So now let's talk about the

weaknesses. There's got to be a reason why he might be available at 6, right? Well, the biggest

reason why he slipped in the estimation of a lot of scouts and teams

is simply because they expect it more from him in his draft year.

...