Bruins Prospects: Who’s playing college hockey this season?

Boston has three draftees that will be skating in the Northeast this season — Trevor Kuntar for Boston College, Riley Duran for Providence and Ty Gallagher for Boston University.

Both Duran and Gallagher enter their first seasons playing collegiately while Kuntar’s second season is set to get underway.

Trevor Kuntar – Boston College

After a promising freshman season at Boston College, Trevor Kuntar is back at Chestnut Hill for his second-year campaign. The third-round pick from 2020 skated in 23 of 24 games for Jerry York last season, registering six goals and four assists.

With BC losing top scorers in Alex Newhook, Matthew Boldy and Mike Hardman to the pros, Kuntar is in line for a bigger role this season with the Eagles. In BC’s exhibition game against AIC on Saturday, Oct. 2, Kuntar registered an assist playing on a line with Marc McLaughlin (a participant at Bruins development camp) and Nikita Nesterenko, two of BC’s top four point scorers from last season.

At development camp, Kuntar flashed his speed and finesse with the nifty between-the-legs goal. However, it’s his heavy shot that is his best weapon, along with a big frame that allows him to create separation from defenders. If Kuntar continues to play with talent like McLaughlin and Nesterenko, he should see a significant increase in not only production on the stat sheet, but development in his game.

Riley Duran – Providence College

Duran is coming off a rough season with the Youngstown Phantoms of the USHL. After lighting it up with Lawrence Academy in 2019-20 (44 points in 27 games), Duran struggled at the junior level, with just 19 points in 47 games.

The sixth-round selection from the 2020 draft looks to prove last season was a fluke, and will have plenty of time to show that to Boston as he enters his freshman season at Providence College. He already had a strong showing at development camp, and he’ll look to continue that momentum into his season with the Friars.

Duran secured an assist in the Friars’ season opener on Saturday against Army, playing on a third line alongside Chase Yoder (Penguins’ draft pick) and Jamie Engelbert in the scrimmage. Duran’s in good hands under Nate Leaman and is just a short ride away from the staff with the Providence Bruins, who will surely be keeping an eye on the youngster.

Ty Gallagher – Boston University

The final pick from this summer’s draft, Ty Gallagher was the second of back-to-back picks made from the Bruins from the U.S. National Team Development Program. He’s skating this season in his first year with Boston University.

Gallagher wasn’t a regular on the USNTDP for the USHL. Gallagher split team between the U17 team, U18 team and the junior team. With the USHL team, Gallagher had 12 points in 25 games, while he most excelled with U18 team, registering 27 points in 48 games.

The 18-year-old skated on the top defensive pair for BU in the exhibition game Saturday against Holy Cross with Alex Vlasic. Gallagher didn’t waste time in his first NCAA game, finding the back of the net in the Terriers’ 5-1 win. If he keeps producing, he will continue to get top minutes from Albie O’Connell, who also has former Bruins assistant coach Jay Pandolfo on staff.