Elliotte Friedman believes the Canadiens should focus on hurting for James Hagens

On a recent episode of the 32 Thoughts podcast with Elliotte Friedman and Kyle Bukauskas, the former expressed his thoughts about the Montreal Canadiens' current situation.

If you have watched the Habs early season woes unfold, you'd be hard-pressed to argue with Friedman's take. Montreal has some pieces that will help them through the rebuild on the current roster, Nick Suzuki, Cole Caufield, Juraj Slafkovsky and Kirby Dach up front. On the backend, Lane Hutson and Kaiden Guhle lead the charge.

Then there are a few guys coming through the pipeline like Ivan Demidov and Michael Hage, who have fans looking grinningly to the future. But as we speak, there is not enough talent on the Habs to do much in the playoffs, even if their hopes are a playoff berth. It doesn't appear likely, even if it's only been 16 games, and Friedman believes that the Canadiens aren't dealing so well with the struggles.

The Canadiens show up to the rink happy and ready to return to the win column but leave the rink looking defeated. Yes, the Canadiens pulled out a great effort, resulting in a 7-5 win against the Buffalo Sabres. But before that losing six in a row, the way that they did, seems indicative of a bigger issue.

If the Canadiens want to successfully emerge from this rebuild ready to push teams back on their heels, then adding another top draft select might be necessary. The near consensus for the top pick in the 2025 NHL Draft is James Hagens, a slippery 5'10" left-shot centre, playing with the Boston College Eagles (Jacob Fowler's team). Montreal is heading in the right direction, but adding a player with the dynamism of Hagens to the fold is something that Friedman believes the Habs brass should be looking forward to.

It is difficult to rebuild in the NHL, very few teams do it and the ones that do know it can be a long gruelling process. As Friedman put it, "It is really hard to rebuild in this league." With the Canadiens needing to shore up a formidable top six, it will happen in due time, and another top pick will be a huge push in the right direction.

Hagens calls Montreal a beautiful place

Hagens, a native of Hauppage, New York hasn't grown up around many outdoor rinks, but he praised Montreal for the people and all of the local rinks. This has helped keep the love and passion for hockey in the city high. This excites Hagens, as he knows that the crowd at the Bell Centre is electric, and one of the best barns in the league.

It would certainly be cool if he played in Montreal, Montreal loves their Boston College/University committed players. With plenty of Massachusetts post-secondary educated students in Montreal or the pipeline, Hagens would be another nice piece. Lane Hutson leads a strong group of prospects and graduated players including Jacob Fowler, Sean Farrell and Jayden Struble.

Hagens has the creativity and talent to project as a top-of-the-lineup player at the NHL level. As The Athletic's Scott Wheeler put it best, "The game comes easy to him out there." Not sure there is a bigger compliment than that, some players just have a certain it factor to their game, and making it look easy is a rare compliment to hear.

While he isn't the clearcut top prospect without any doubt, at least not yet, he has the tools to become a fantastic NHL player. The Montreal Canadiens need a little more help and a guy like Hagens would be an nice prize. Nobody wants the Habs to have a losing season, but realistically, they need some talent up front and once they have it, the pieces will start to fall into place on the roster.