The Boston Bruins, like most NHL contenders, don’t have a plethora of high-end prospects. However, last season’s down year served to replenish the club’s prospect pipeline with several, serviceable pieces. The playoff miss allowed Boston to land James Hagens, while trades brought in Fraser Minten and Marat Khusnutdinov.
But there’s one prospect that’s poised to impact the NHL sooner rather than later. That’s Dean Letourneau. Letourneau has already drawn significant praise. In an earlier piece, I discussed how Letourneau’s current NCAA coach at Boston College Greg Brown views the hulking forward.
But now, the attention has spilled over into a major publication like The Athletic. In a December 15 piece, Fluto Shinzawa hailed Letourneau as the Bruins’ fastest rising prospect.
Shinzawa wrote:
“Letourneau had zero goals in 36 games as a Boston College freshman in 2024-25. Part of that lack of production was because he was an 18-year-old who had accelerated his NCAA arrival by a season. Now that he’s acclimated, the 6-foot-7, 228-pound center has become a point-per-game player (nine goals and 17 points in 16 games).”
Letourneau hadn’t really gelled last season. The chatter had even gone as far as describing the 25th overall pick from 2024 as a bust.
But this season, it seems like he’s put everything together. And that’s no bueno for the rest of the NHL. The Bruins could have a massive center with puck handling skills and a scoring touch.
The 19-year-old stands at 6’7” and 229 pounds. That size is reminiscent of another former Bruins big forward: Jumbo Joe Thornton. Thornton combined size and skill to become a dominant force in the NHL. While some Thornton’s best years came away from the Bruins, his overall skill set landed him in the Hall of Fame.
That would not be a bad place for Dean Leatourneau to end up once his playing days are done. The only challenge this time around would be for the Bruins to hold onto Letourneau instead of trading him away.