It's 2018, and Marc Bergevin is looking down at the ice at the team's rookie camp. It's a lackluster crop of prospects, which means the team invited some players to help improve the depth and possibly find a diamond in the rough. He sees a young player flying around the ice but doesn't love the potential and feels he isn't worth offering a contract. The young player is Brandon Hagel, who is sent back to junior along with seven other players.
Bergevin has no way of knowing it, but seven years later, that young player will be squaring off with Matthew Tkachuk in the opening faceoff of Team Canada vs. Team USA in one of the most anticipated matchups in over a decade. To add insult to injury, the game occurs at the Bell Centre.
Many Montreal Canadiens fans may not even be aware that Hagel was at that rookie camp in 2018, and it's no slight to Bergevin that he didn't see the potential. The Buffalo Sabres drafted Hagel in the sixth round of the 2016 draft and left him unsigned, which led to the Canadiens inviting him to camp. Hagel eventually got an opportunity to sign with the Chicago Blackhawks and parlayed two successful years into a spot on the Tampa Bay Lightning.
Ngl we should fire Bergevin again pic.twitter.com/BFNxTJQuAh
— NHL Insider Max Pacioretty 🌸 💭 (@NHLlnsider67) February 18, 2025
Hagel has come into his own with the Lightning, which includes being on pace for 93 points in 82 games this season. He played so well that Jon Cooper had no choice but to fight for him to be on Team Canada at the Four Nations Faceoff, bringing unlimited energy to the bottom six. The lasting memory of Hagel in this tournament will be the fight with Tkachuk to start one of the most intense five minutes of hockey we've seen in quite some time.
"“I think we’re out there playing for the flag, not the cameras. That’s a part of Canada that we have in there. We don’t need to initiate anything. We’re going out there playing our game and then giving it everything and doing it for our country. We don’t need to initiate everything. We’re just going to play as hard as we can and do it for the flag on the chest.”"Brandon Hagel
How can you not love Hagel after his comments at Tuesday's media availability? Last Saturday night might've been the most anticipated game, but this Thursday's final will be even more significant. Everyone wants to fast-forward to the championship game between Canada and the United States and low-and-behold look at who is on the podium taking questions a little over 48 hours before the matchup.
You could've expected Sidney Crosby, Connor McDavid, or Nathan MacKinnon to be there. Or even Brad Marchand, who will play in his home stadium in Boston. Or Cale Makar, who has been a hot topic all tournament with his lingering health concerns. However, the comment making the rounds comes from that undersized forward who attended the Canadiens' rookie camp in 2018 without a contract or a plan.
With the gap narrowing between Canada and the United States, the Canadians need some players like Hagel to emerge as unsung heroes. In the past, Canada never needed an underdog story, as they defeated their teams with overwhelming talent. However, it is guys with hearts like Hagel who could be the difference when Canada meets the USA on Thursday night.
The Canadiens had no way of knowing it, but they let a good one get away when they sent him back to junior without a contract in 2018. Front office gigs aren't for the faint of heart, and you're bound to get a couple wrong, but this one stings in hindsight.
In the words of Katy Perry, "In another life, I would make you stay. So I don’t have to say you were the one that got away."