Brandon Hagel (born August 27, 1998) is a Canadian professional

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice hock ...

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for the

Tampa Bay Lightning The Tampa Bay Lightning (colloquially known as the Bolts) are a professional ice hockey team based in Tampa, Florida. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference. They play th ...

of the

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...

(NHL). After making his NHL debut with the

Chicago Blackhawks The Chicago Blackhawks (spelled Black Hawks until 1986, and known colloquially as the Hawks) are a professional ice hockey team based in Chicago. The Blackhawks compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division i ...

on March 11, 2020, the NHL season was postponed due to

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. During his four-season tenure with the

Red Deer Rebels The Red Deer Rebels are a Western Hockey League junior ice hockey team based in Red Deer, Alberta, Canada. The Rebels play at the Peavey Mart Centrium. History A "Name the Team" contest ran in Red Deer from October 7 to 17, 1991. The top t ...

in the

Western Hockey League The Western Hockey League (WHL) is a major junior ice hockey league based in Western Canada and the Northwestern United States. The WHL is one of three leagues that constitutes the Canadian Hockey League (CHL) as the highest level of junior h ...

(WHL), he set a new franchise record for most assists.

Early life

Hagel was born on August 27, 1998, in

Saskatoon Saskatoon () is the largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Saskatchewan. It straddles a bend in the South Saskatchewan River in the central region of the province. It is located along the Trans-Canada Hig ...

Saskatchewan Saskatchewan ( ; ) is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Western Canada, western Canada, bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and on t ...

, but was raised in

Morinville Morinville is a town in the Edmonton Metropolitan Region of Alberta, Canada. It is approximately north of Edmonton along Highway 2. History Morinville was settled by Jean-Baptiste Morin, a priest and missionary of the Missionary Oblates o ...

Alberta Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...

Playing career

Hagel began his Bantam and Midget AAA ice hockey career with the Fort Saskatchewan Rangers in the

Alberta Midget Hockey League The Alberta Elite Hockey League or AEHL (formerly the Alberta Midget Hockey League) is the provincial U18 "AAA" ice hockey league for Alberta, Canada. The league consists of 17 teams split into the North and South Divisions. League champions go ...

(AMHL). In spite of recording 41 points in 33 games during the 2012–13 AMHL season, he was overlooked in the 2013

(WHL) Bantam draft being too slight. Following this, he finished third in the AMJHL in scoring and was named to the Second All-Star Team. He finished his Bantam and Midget career playing with the

Whitecourt Wolverines The Whitecourt Wolverines are a Junior ice hockey#Junior A, junior "A" ice hockey team in North Division of the Alberta Junior Hockey League (AJHL) based in Whitecourt, Alberta, Canada. The 2012–13 season was their inaugural season in Whitecou ...

and recording one goal and two assists in two games.

Major junior

On September 17, 2015, Hagel was signed as a free agent by the

in the

(WHL). In his rookie season with the team, he helped lead them to the

2016 Memorial Cup The 2016 Memorial Cup (branded as the 2016 Mastercard Memorial Cup for sponsorship reasons) was a four-team, round-robin format tournament that took place at the ENMAX Centrium in Red Deer, from May 20–29, 2016. It was the 98th Memorial Cup cham ...

against the

London Knights The London Knights are a junior ice hockey team from London, Ontario, Canada, playing in the Ontario Hockey League, one of the leagues of the Canadian Hockey League. The Knights started out in 1965 as the London Nationals but changed to their cu ...

and earned a final ranking of 104th overall by the

NHL Central Scouting Bureau The NHL Central Scouting Services (CSS) is a department within the National Hockey League that ranks prospects for the NHL Entry Draft at specific times during the hockey season. Players are ranked based on how well they will translate to the profe ...

. He attributed much of his success to head coach and GM

Brent Sutter Brent Colin Sutter (born June 10, 1962) is a Canadian former National Hockey League (NHL) player and former head coach of the New Jersey Devils and Calgary Flames. Selected by the New York Islanders 17th overall at the 1980 NHL Entry Draft, Sutt ...

, saying " ving Brent as a coach, he pushes you every night. You have to get into the hard areas and the dirty areas for success to come....That’s what has sunk in is that for success to come, those things have to happen first. When those happen, success is going to come." Hagel was eventually selected 159th overall by the

Buffalo Sabres The Buffalo Sabres are a professional ice hockey team based in Buffalo, New York. The Sabres compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference. The team was established in 1970, along w ...

in the

2016 NHL Entry Draft The 2016 NHL Entry Draft was the 54th NHL Entry Draft. The draft was held on June 24–25, 2016 at the First Niagara Center in Buffalo, New York. The first three selections were Auston Matthews going to the Toronto Maple Leafs, Patrik Laine go ...

. Prior to the 2017–18 season, Hagel participated in both the Rebels and Sabres' training camps. During a scrimmage with the Rebels, Hagel suffered a knee-on-knee injury and was expected to be returned to the WHL to complete the season. In spite of this, he was named an alternate captain and recorded three goals and two assists in back-to-back games against the

Edmonton Oil Kings The Edmonton Oil Kings are a major junior ice hockey team based in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, that play in the Western Hockey League. As of July 2008, they are owned by Daryl Katz's Oilers Entertainment Group, which also owns the Edmonton Oilers. ...

. Although he was healthy to begin the season, Hagel experienced an upper body injury and missed six weeks to recover. By June 1, 2018, the Sabres were unable to sign Hagel to a contract and relinquished their rights to him, allowing him to become eligible for the

2018 NHL Entry Draft The 2018 NHL Entry Draft was the 56th NHL Entry Draft. The draft was held on June 22–23, 2018, at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas. The 2018 NHL Entry Draft was the second of two professional sports drafts to be held in the Dalla ...

. He was subsequently invited to the

Montreal Canadiens The Montreal CanadiensEven in English, the French spelling is always used instead of ''Canadians''. The French spelling of ''Montréal'' is also sometimes used in the English media. (french: link=no, Les Canadiens de Montréal), officially ...

training camp on a tryout basis but began to 2018–19 season with the Rebels. After recording 30 points in 19 games, he signed a three-year, entry-level contract with the

worth $925,000. He continued his success through his final season in the WHL, where he set a new franchise record for most assists and was selected for the WHL Eastern Conference Second All-Star Team. Hagel surpassed

Arron Asham Arron Miles Asham (born April 13, 1978) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player who played 15 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL). Over his 15 seasons, he played for 6 different teams. Playing career Asham was drafted 71st o ...

's 161 former franchise assist record on February 9, 2019, in a game against the

Moose Jaw Warriors The Moose Jaw Warriors are a major junior ice hockey team in the Western Hockey League based in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan. The Warriors play in the East Division of the Eastern Conference. The team plays its home games at Moose Jaw Events Centre ...

. On March 1, 2019, Hagel scored his 100th WHL point and 38th goal of the season in a 7–4 loss to the Medicine Hat Tigers.

Professional

After the Rebels were knocked out of the 2019 WHL playoffs, Hagel joined the Blackhawks

American Hockey League The American Hockey League (AHL) is a professional ice hockey league based in the United States and Canada that serves as the primary Minor league#Ice hockey, developmental league for the National Hockey League (NHL). Since the 2010–11 AHL se ...

affiliate, the

Rockford IceHogs The Rockford IceHogs are a professional ice hockey team based in Rockford, Illinois. They are members of the American Hockey League (AHL), having begun play in the League starting in the 2007–08 season. The team plays their home games at the ...

, for eight games and recorded one point. He attended the Blackhawks training camp prior to the 2018–19 season but was assigned to the

to begin the 2018–19 season. Hagel made his NHL debut on March 11, 2020, the day before the NHL season was postponed due to

. As a black ace in the Blackhawks return to play first-round playoff exit, Hagel was unable to feature in a game. With the following 2020–21 season to be delayed, Hagel was loaned to second tier Swiss League club, HC Thurgau, on September 30, 2020. As a restricted free agent with the Blackhawks following his breakout 2020–21 season, Hagel was re-signed to a three-year, $4.5 million contract extension on August 6, 2021. In his third season with the Blackhawks in 2021–22, with the team well out of contention for the playoffs and having established new career marks with 21 goals and 37 points through 55 games, Hagel was traded by Chicago alongside two fourth-round draft picks to the

in exchange for two first-round picks in

2023 Events Predicted and scheduled events * January 1 ** In the United States, books, films, and other works published in 1927 will enter the public domain, assuming there are no changes made to copyright law. ** Croatia will adopt the eu ...

and 2024,

Taylor Raddysh Taylor Raddysh (born February 18, 1998) is a Canadian professional ice hockey forward for the Chicago Blackhawks of the National Hockey League (NHL). Raddysh was drafted in the 2016 NHL Entry Draft in the second round (58th) by the Tampa Bay Ligh ...

and Boris Katchouk on March 18, 2022.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

International

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hagel, Brandon 1998 births Living people Buffalo Sabres draft picks Canadian ice hockey left wingers Chicago Blackhawks players HC Thurgau players Ice hockey people from Alberta Ice hockey people from Saskatchewan Red Deer Rebels players Rockford IceHogs (AHL) players Sportspeople from Saskatoon Tampa Bay Lightning players