Bruins draft Canadian prep player heading to Boston College with first-round pick
Dean Letourneau, 18, stands 6-foot-7 and tallied 127 points for St. Andrew's College this season
Dean Letourneau, 18, stands 6-foot-7 and tallied 127 points for St. Andrew's College this season
The Boston Bruins selected Dean Letourneau, a Canadian prep player, with the 25th overall pick in the first round of the 2024 NHL entry draft Friday night.
Letourneau, 18, of Braeside, Ontario, had a standout season for St. Andrew's College, which competes at the U18 AAA Prep level.
The 6-foot-7, 214-pound forward scored 61 goals and 66 assists in 56 games with St. Andrew's this season. In Prep Hockey Conference play, he recorded a league-best 25 points with 14 goals and 11 assists in 14 games.
"What stood out [about Dean] is obviously the frame, the player, and his skill set, to tell you the truth," Bruins general manager Don Sweeney said after drafting Letourneau. "He moves really well at that size. He's got very, very good hands and got a very neat shot."
Letourneau will not be immediately entering the Bruins system, as he will be starting his freshman year at Boston College this fall.
"Going back to my college recruiting, I always wanted to stay in Boston. So this is pretty special that I get to stay there even longer," Letourneau said after being drafted by the Bruins.
Sweeney said Letourneau will face a big jump in competition going from a Canadian prep league to NCAA Division I hockey, but Letourneau will have an opportunity to fill the hole on BC's roster left by Will Smith, the Lexington, Massachusetts, native who signed an entry-level contract with the San Jose Sharks last month after having a record-setting freshman season for the Eagles.
"We think that's going to be a great development opportunity for Dean to continue to grow and fill in the gaps in his game," Sweeney said.
The 2024 NHL entry draft is being held at the Sphere in Las Vegas, which opened in September 2023 and is hosting its first sports-themed event.
"It's been awesome. I mean, when I first landed in Vegas, it was kind of the first thing I saw," Letourneau said of the Sphere. "It's pretty cool we get to have the draft here."
The NHL draft continued Saturday with the start of the second round and will end with the conclusion of the seventh and final round.