James Hagens gives Marco Sturm a fresh offseason storyline after Team USA added the Bruins rookie to its preliminary roster for the IIHF World Championship.

Boston will have two names on the early United States list, with Hagens joined by defenseman Mason Lohrei on the 25-player group announced Thursday.

That gives the Bruins a development angle worth tracking even after their season wrapped, because this tournament drops both players into a faster, pressure-filled setting.

For Hagens, this is the bigger headline. The 2025 first-round pick only got a brief taste of NHL action, skating in 5 games and posting 1 assist.

Boston moved him quickly once his college run ended. He signed his first pro deal with Providence on March 23, then signed his entry-level contract with the Bruins on April 8.

The organization clearly wanted him playing meaningful games instead of sitting idle, and this assignment keeps that plan moving into May.

Boston gets more reps for two key pieces heading to Worlds for Team USA

Don Sweeney framed it the same way this week.

“Well, I think it's really imperative for him to continue to be playing,” said Bruins general manager Don Sweeney on Wednesday. “I mean, ideally, I'd rather be watching him play last night in Springfield, to tell you the honest truth. The rules are the rules and how we navigate it in terms of getting James experience at this point in time, that was part of it. Going to Providence for a period of time, getting into regular season games, playing in the playoffs, and now he has the benefit of going to play in the Worlds, and that's a longer tournament than people realize. It's going to be a great opportunity… He now has a chance to be part of a locker room of star players on other teams and earn ice time. Like that's what it's all about.”

The Bruins wanted Hagens on the ice, around veterans, fighting for shifts, and learning how to earn his place in a packed locker room.

That matters. World Championship hockey is not a development camp. Ice time gets tight, mistakes get noticed, and young players have to handle pressure without much runway.

Lohrei arrives at this event from a very different spot. He just finished his third season in Boston and played 73 regular-season games, recording 7 goals and 19 assists.

He also posted a +17 rating, which says plenty about how much trust he earned while handling bigger minutes on the blue line through the year.

Boston's presence at the tournament does not stop with those two.

Fraser Minten is set to represent Canada, while Joonas Korpisalo and Henri Jokiharju will suit up for Finland.

So this is not just a nice spring note for the Bruins. It is another look at how much of their roster is still being evaluated, developed, and pushed once the NHL schedule ends.

For Hagens, the spotlight is obvious. For Lohrei, the challenge is different. He now gets another stage to show he can carry his Boston usage into a high-stakes international role.

The tournament runs from May 15 through May 31 in Switzerland, and for the Bruins, that makes this more than background noise. It is an extension of next season's roster story.