Bruins admit potential misstep with first-round pick Dean Letourneau

A year ago this week, the Bruins traded their way back into the first-round (as a result of the Linus Ullmark trade) and took a chance on Dean Letourneau.

A potential boom-or-bust candidate, but with tantalizing size and skill (think Tage Thompson is everything pans out the way the Bruins hope), Letourneau decided to opt for a different path than the one originally charted for him after dominating in the prep ranks and putting himself on the Bruins' radar.

Instead of opting for a year in the USHL, an opening on Boston College's roster allowed Letourneau to jump to the college game a year early. It did not go as planned, however, and Letourneau finished the year without a goal and just three assists in 36 games for the Eagles. It's a decision that the Bruins admitted Tuesday probably was not in the best interest of either party.

“Significant growing pains, making a very big jump from the level of hockey he was [in] the year before, to the demands of college," Bruins general manager Don Sweeney said in his pre-draft media availability. "There's a little uniqueness there with [Sharks forward] Will Smith leaving early to go to the NHL, we talked a little bit about what would be the best place in terms of Dean and in hindsight, I think we all would have agreed that maybe another year of the USHL [or] a full year of the USHL would have been the best path."

Again, that was the plan, with Letourneau originally committed to playing the 2024-25 season for USHL SIoux Falls before joining BC for 2025-26. That was a more than reasonable expectation given the fact that going from playing prep right to hockey would've by all means been skipping a level, which is something typically reserved for truly exceptional talents, not projected late-first rounders.

And in essence, yes, Letourneau was taking Smith's roster spot on the Eagles' roster. But he was absolutely not taking Smith's minutes. Letourneau was mostly logging bottom-six minutes, actually, averaging 10:17 per game, which was second-lowest among BC forwards to make at least 30 appearances for the club during the 2024-25 season, according to CollegeHockeyNews.com.

"Physically he was able to play at the at the college level, and again, that opportunity presented in a bit of a unique fashion. I think everybody was sort of with the understanding that, hey, physically, he was ready to do it," Sweeney noted. "Now, whether or not you can carry that over in the highest level, because that's what the expectations at [Boston College] are, and be successful from a point production standpoint, you know, that's a leap."

This, for what it's worth, was the word from pretty much every single scout I talked to that that had an in-person viewing of Letourneau in 2024-25. There were pockets of play that you liked, sure, but it always came back to a "he really shouldn't be in this league right now" kind of rationale for his struggles or lack of production. Given that Letourneau was always considered a project, the feeling is and was that he needs minutes, minutes, and ... yup, you guessed it ... more minutes to work out any developmental kinks he may have to sort out.

Now, the good news for Letourneau is that BC did lose top-line talents Ryan Leonard (Washington) and Gabe Perreault (N.Y. Rangers) to the NHL at the end of last season, as well as veteran Eagle Michael Posma (ECHL Florida). That, in theory, should open the door for at least a few more minutes per game and some potential power-play opportunities for Letourneau in 2025-26.

"Deep down, is [Letourneau] better off for [last season's struggles]? We'll see this year, because I think that he's been tested mentally and physically, and he's putting in work now that he has an understanding of how much work it requires to play at that level and be successful," Sweeney said. "That's not necessarily a negative. It's just that when players have had the success and put up the points their entire careers, and all of a sudden they're like, 'Hold on, this is a lot harder.' It's deflating to a degree.

"But talking through with it, he'll be fine. He'll earn his opportunity back, work his way up the depth chart and start to produce like he has. So, I don't look at as a setback, I just look at it like a reality slap in a lot of ways.”

Given Letourneau's numbers put up in his final year of prep (61 goals and 127 points in 56 games for St. Andrew’s), it's not outlandish or pure fantasyland to envision a significant uptick in his production with more minutes and opportunities. It might be the most likely result, actually.

But until it happens for him, consider Letourneau another Sweeney pick that's going to be scrutinized to death, especially with Liam Greentree (the next player selected after Letourneau) coming off a season that featured 49 goals and 119 points (third-most in the OHL) in 64 games for OHL Oshawa.