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Bruins prospect Dean Letourneau looking ahead following season of adversity
“It definitely weighed on me a little bit that the chances weren't going in."
The Bruins understood the risks when they made the call to select Dean Letourneau with the 25th pick in the 2024 NHL Draft.
For a Boston organization lacking in terms of talent down the middle, a project like Letourneau represented a worthwhile gamble.
If he developed into a legitimate NHLer, Letourneau had the makings of a matchup nightmare in the pro game, with his slick hands complemented by an imposing 6-foot-7 frame. The numbers were also encouraging, as Letourneau racked up 61 goals and 127 points across 56 games against prep competition at St. Andrew’s College.
But, with the intriguing pivot making the sizable jump from the prep level to the gauntlet of Hockey East in 2024-25, Boston was expecting Letourneau to have a few missteps as a freshman at Boston College.
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It ended up being far more than just a couple of simple stumbles for the 18-year-old forward in his first foray at Chestnut Hill.
“Significant growing pains,” Don Sweeney said of Letourneau’s first season with BC. “Making a very big jump from the level of hockey he was the year before, to the demands of college.”
Initially, Letourneau was expected to take a smaller step in 2024-25 by playing the USHL for a season before matriculating to college. But, after Eagles star Will Smith left BC to join the Sharks later in the summer, Letourneau opted to accelerate his timeline and join the Eagles a year ahead of his expected arrival.
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It led to plenty of frustration for several parties this past winter.
“I think we all would have agreed that maybe a full year of the USHL would have been the best path,” Sweeney said of Letourneau. “Physically, he was able to play at the college level, and again, that opportunity presented a bit of a unique fashion.
“I think everybody was sort of with the understanding that, hey, physically, he was ready to do it. Now, whether or not you can carry that over in the highest level, because that’s what the expectations at BC are, and be successful from a production standpoint, you know, that’s a leap.”
Despite playing in 36 games with the Eagles in a bottom-six role, Letourneau failed to score a single goal during the 2024-25 season, finishing with just three assists on the year.
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Boston was expecting a long-term project in Letourneau. But the frustration was evident for all involved, namely the player whose track record of stuffing the stat sheet came to an abrupt halt in the collegiate ranks.
“I mean, obviously the numbers weren’t where I wanted them to be,” Letourneau said at Boston’s Development Camp, adding: “It definitely weighed on me a little bit that the chances weren’t going in. I had a couple of chances in the Beanpot … hit a couple cross bars, a couple posts. So usually when those don’t go on, you get a little frustrated.”
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Letourneau added that he was hindered by a broken hand for the first half of his freshman season, going under the knife around the holidays in order to fix the nagging ailment.
Even if his health improved down the stretch, it still didn’t lead to any tangible results on the scoresheet for Letourneau.
But as the dissatisfaction continued to build, fellow Bruins prospect and BC forward Andre Gasseau didn’t see those setbacks slow down Letourneau’s willingness to work on his craft.
“He just kept his head down and worked hard,” Gasseau, a 2021 seventh-round selection, said of Letourneau. “He’s someone who is willing to go on the ice. And when there’s free ice, when the gym’s open, we go on the ice a lot during free ice, if we have time before practice.
“I know he spent a couple weeks here before coming to this camp. So he’s really committed. And like James [Hagens], he’s gonna bounce back. His stats don’t quite show up for him, but he’s gonna be a big contributor.”
Bruins player development coordinator Adam McQuaid echoed the same message about how Letourneau navigated a season where the positives were few and far between.
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“He honestly handled it really well,” McQuaid said. “Like there were days of disappointment where he felt like he could and wanted to impact more. … At the end of the year, he was like, ‘I’m going back to BC. I’m going to compete for a spot.’ Nothing’s going to be given to you.
“He knows that, and it says a lot about him. So [I] learned a lot about his character. Adversity at a young age — a lot of these guys haven’t seen it. So for him to go through it now, there’s always going to be critics and adversity faced. And for him, being here in Boston probably magnifies it a little bit. He’s handled it really well.”
Letourneau will likely be placed in the same bottom-six role on the Eagles in 2025-26, especially with Hagens and Bruins 2025 draft pick William Moore expected to slot into the first two center spots on the depth chart.
After learning to play more of a hard-nosed, checking role this past year, Letourneau wants to return to his strengths as an offensive playmaker — rather than try to augment his skillset based on where Eagles coach Greg Brown places him in the lineup.
Letourneau might need plenty of seasoning in the collegiate ranks before setting his sights on the pro game. But the former first-round pick still believes he has the means of putting the 2024-25 season in the rearview mirror.
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“I just took some time off. Kind of reflected on the season. … Trying to be more focused on my skill, trying to get my confidence back,” Letourneau said. “And I feel I kind of have as the summer has [gone] on.”
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