C Dean Letourneau - St. Andrew's College, CAHS (2024, 25th, BOS)

[bigdog16]

There are two 2007 born skaters and 27 skaters who are 2006s like Letourneau.

Just for context thats like 1% of NCAA D1

Zach Hyman had 2 goals in 41 games as a freshman and that's after another OJHL season in his D+1, so just give Letourneau some time to adjust.

Exactly. This kid is a project. There is clearly a plan in place. To be honest, the realistic expectation was probably 10-15 points. Knowing he would be a bottom 6 player that didnt get any PP time

 

[wetcoast]

I disagree completely. He’s jumping from a Canadian High school with McDonald’s workers as competition to guys who’ve had high competition for most of their youth careers and even guys 5-6 years older than him. All the discourse surrounding him was question marks about how his transition would go. This certainly is t a surprise and the Bruins anticipated this. As others mentioned, BC is also stacked and he’s not necessarily expected to produce when he’s not getting PP time or a whole load of ice time.

Sure this would be fine if he was some small 5th round guy but he is a large first rounder.

 

[wetcoast]

Look at Mason lohrei and how he panned out.

What's the connection here?

He's a Dman picked from a higher level and stayed at that level the year after his draft then went to college.

 

[MichaelFarrell]

I think he’s very comparable to Mark Jankowski in terms of projection and they had very similar situations.

Both drafted from Canadian High School, both had very similar offensive production in High School, both big centers, both transitioned to NCAA straight from high school, and both were drafted too early in the late first.

Dean is a huge project. 3-4 years in college plus probably 2-3 full years in the minors at least. Personally, I think he should go to the CHL next year and work on his game, and then come back to the NCAA for the 2026-27 season.

 

[Dr Quincy]

How can you tell? I don’t watch college hockey but I can’t imagine a whole lot of 18 year olds are playing in the NCAA.

23rd out of 29 in pts for guys under 19. The 5 players below him are all defensive defensemen. I wasn't expecting a ton out of him this year, but even so he's been slightly disappointing. This pick was always about what he'd be 4 or 5 years from now, but I think it's ok to say that this has been a less than ideal development year for him.

Elite Prospects - NCAA Stats 2024-2025

2024-2025 regular season player stats for NCAA, including top goal scorers, most games played, PPG leaders and more.

www.eliteprospects.com

 

[Pavel Buchnevich]

Letourneau and E.J Emery are looking like some of the worst picks of this year's draft

Hate to break it to you, but Emery doesn’t put up points and never has. Scouting him based on the box score makes no sense.

 

[The don godfather]

Dean leternaeu is gonna be a stud or bust . Will see.

 

[TheBeastCoast]

Zach Hyman had 2 goals in 41 games as a freshman and that's after another OJHL season in his D+1, so just give Letourneau some time to adjust.

I mean...Hyman is like an extreme extreme outlier. Far more players who fail to produce simply just never become NHL players. Or manage to string together a fringe NHL career. It is like people clinging to Tom Wilson for power forward prospects that can't produce in the CHL.

 

[Dempsey]

I mean...Hyman is like an extreme extreme outlier. Far more players who fail to produce simply just never become NHL players. Or manage to string together a fringe NHL career. It is like people clinging to Tom Wilson for power forward prospects that can't produce in the CHL.

That’s fair. Hyman is an outlier, but he did produce at a weak level (OJHL) and then took a while to score when he went up to the NCAA so there’s always a chance for others to follow the same path. I wouldn’t bet the house on it or anything though.

 

[BigHitter67]

Pretty unfair to call a kid a bust after 15 games in NCAA after making a colassal jump. There is no doubt they made the wrong choice sending him straight to college though.

People are severely underestimating the jump in talent though. This time last year he was playing against a majority of kids who wont’t even make it to junior hockey.

And on top of it all, it was known he was a project pick. Sometimes these guys turn into Tage Thompsons, sometimes these guys turn into Riley Tuftes.

Yep ,pre draft i posted , with 1st round 6’6 Fs, you’ll either end up with a TT or a Logan Brown . Let’s hope for Bruins sake its the former ..lol

 

[BostonBob]

So basically this thread comes down to this:

Most Bruin fans: Letourneau hasn't done much at Boston College this season but he's a long term project that still might pan out.

Most non-Bruin fans: Letourneau hasn't done much at Boston College this season so he's already a total bust.

 

[Terrier]

How Bruins draft picks are faring in college hockey - The Boston Globe

Eight players selected by the Bruins are currently playing college hockey in New England.

www.bostonglobe.com

 

[jtechkid]

Why didnt he go play ushl for at least a year . Go there and develop offensive talents and have some fun . bad pick by bruins - could got him 2-3 rd round but Sweeney is consistently bad .

 

[Pavel Buchnevich]

Why didnt he go play ushl for at least a year . Go there and develop offensive talents and have some fun . bad pick by bruins - could got him 2-3 rd round but Sweeney is consistently bad .

It’s because Smith turned pro late in the process, so they had an extra spot available and needing to be filled. I doubt they would’ve been able to get him much later than he went. He was projected in the range he went, deserved or not.

 

[Hockeyville USA]

I'm not going to write Letourneau off, since this was an EXTREMELY big jump going from Canadian Prep hockey to the NCAA with no real junior experience in between, but the sample size we have in the NCAA is certainly a significant data point that we can take into consideration.

In regards to the comparison to Mark Jankowski since both went from Canadian HS Prep to the NCAA, I don't see it other than both went a similar route. Jankowski always played a style conducive to fitting into a bottom 6 even if he never hit the top 6 potential ceiling that the Flames thought he had. I don't think Letourneau plays a bottom 6 style game at the current moment, he's more an extremely raw Tage Thompson style that will need an extremely long runway for development.

Bruins and Boston College should have sent him to the USHL for a full year to really dominate junior instead of throwing him off the diving board into the deep end right away. We'll see how things play out moving forward.

 

[Corso]

Bruins and Boston College should have sent him to the USHL for a full year to really dominate junior instead of throwing him off the diving board into the deep end right away. We'll see how things play out moving forward.

He wanted to play college hockey this year, so B.C. relented. With the new NCAA eligibility rules, going forward players like Letourneau will spend that extra year in junior.

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[Hockeyville USA]

He wanted to play college hockey this year, so B.C. relented. With the new NCAA eligibility rules, going forward players like Letourneau will spend that extra year in junior.

​

Letourneau could have gone to the USHL regardless, but going forward, Canadians like him are more likely to be in the CHL prior to the NCAA.

 

[bigdog16]

He wanted to play college hockey this year, so B.C. relented. With the new NCAA eligibility rules, going forward players like Letourneau will spend that extra year in junior.

​

I would bet BC thought he was ready, though. It wasn't as if Letourneau made the decision on behalf of BC. Every college team in the country would have taken him on their roster this year.

 

[Corso]

I would bet BC thought he was ready, though. It wasn't as if Letourneau made the decision on behalf of BC. Every college team in the country would have taken him on their roster this year.

I wonder. I mean everyone knew he was very raw and would not be ready for the pro game for a good number of years.

 

[Hockeyville USA]

I would bet BC thought he was ready, though. It wasn't as if Letourneau made the decision on behalf of BC. Every college team in the country would have taken him on their roster this year.

Boston College shouldn't have thought he was ready. Almost no one over the last decade or two has made the jump straight from HS/HS-Prep to NCAA and has successful, productive results. Should have gone to junior to face real, age-appropriate competition, got more ice time especially in offensive situations, and chances to thrive. Instead, he's an underprepared JAG (just a guy) at the top program in the country.

 

[Kegs]

Boston College shouldn't have thought he was ready. Almost no one over the last decade or two has made the jump straight from HS/HS-Prep to NCAA and has successful, productive results. Should have gone to junior to face real, age-appropriate competition, got more ice time especially in offensive situations, and chances to thrive. Instead, he's an underprepared JAG (just a guy) at the top program in the country.

The coaches at Boston college seem to like him…

 

[bigdog16]

I wonder. I mean everyone knew he was very raw and would not be ready for the pro game for a good number of years.

It could have been BC afraid to lose out on a kid that had great potential and felt OK with bringing him in a year earlier than he should've been

Boston College shouldn't have thought he was ready. Almost no one over the last decade or two has made the jump straight from HS/HS-Prep to NCAA and has successful, productive results. Should have gone to junior to face real, age-appropriate competition, got more ice time especially in offensive situations, and chances to thrive. Instead, he's an underprepared JAG (just a guy) at the top program in the country.

It depends what you qualify as "successful, productive results" but Chris Kreider was a big contributor on a BC team that won the national championship as a freshman straight from prep.

 

[covfefe]

Boston College shouldn't have thought he was ready. Almost no one over the last decade or two has made the jump straight from HS/HS-Prep to NCAA and has successful, productive results. Should have gone to junior to face real, age-appropriate competition, got more ice time especially in offensive situations, and chances to thrive. Instead, he's an underprepared JAG (just a guy) at the top program in the country.

I agree with you re: Letourneau and how BC has handled this but the bolded is simply not true. From SAC alone, that exact playbook has been run by Morgan Barron, Jon Castagna, Matt Stienburg, and Warren Foegele.

3/4 of those guys have played NHL games this year and two are full-time players. It strikes me that they gave themselves that chance to thrive.

There's simply no straight line to the NHL unless you are preternaturally gifted.

 

[Hockeyville USA]

I agree with you re: Letourneau and how BC has handled this but the bolded is simply not true. From SAC alone, that exact playbook has been run by Morgan Barron, Jon Castagna, Matt Stienburg, and Warren Foegele.

3/4 of those guys have played NHL games this year and two are full-time players. It strikes me that they gave themselves that chance to thrive.

There's simply no straight line to the NHL unless you are preternaturally gifted.

Stienburg had 10 points in 27 games as a 19 year old freshman at Cornell. That's meh, JAG territory to me.

Barron had 18 points in 33 games as a 19 year old freshman at Cornell. That's decent, nothing special though.

Foegele had 16 points in 34 games as an 18 year old freshman at New Hampshire. Decent

Castagna had 25 points in 35 games as an 18 year old freshman at Cornell. Very solid.

Letourneau has 2 points in 22 games as an 18 year old freshman at Boston College. Horrific.

Difference between the first 4 and Letourneau is they played at programs that weren't stacked that offered them more ice time off the bat. Letourneau is stuck down the lineup AND isn't ready. Additionally, those guys didn't have huge expectations/pressure on them because they weren't 1st rounders, Letourneau was picked high and has more pressure for that reason and that he's playing at Boston College. Maybe Boston shouldn't have drafted him that high.

 

[Wieters]

The comp the coaching staff at BC likes to make for Letourneau is Kevin Hayes. He was also the size of an aircraft carrier, taken late in the first round, and made a big jump from playing prep the year prior. Hayes looked very raw when he first started at BC, but he progressively ramped up his production to the point that he was able to make the jump pretty seamlessly to the NHL when he did leave after four years. I would imagine that's the timeline we're looking at for Dean, so I don't think it's worth looking at his box scores at all this year.

For what it's worth, Dean has looked decidedly more engaged since the Christmas break.