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

[Pavel Buchnevich]

He's definitely a bet on athletic tools and puck skills, but I've also seen him finish some big glass shaking checks. I feel like there's a huge range of outcomes with this player as of now

Good to hear. I haven’t seen that many BC games this year and barely noticed him when I did, but when I focused on him in his draft season he seemed very soft and a player that avoids contact.

 

[Colt.45Orr]

Good to hear. I haven’t seen that many BC games this year and barely noticed him when I did, but when I focused on him in his draft season he seemed very soft and a player that avoids contact.

He doesn't play a power-forward game at all, but will randomly finish a check hard.

 

[wetcoast]

Disagree. Other than size and skating he doesn’t have close to bottom six characteristics. He’s a bet on athleticism and puck skills.

That may be true but I don't think that he has top 6 characteristics at this point either.

 

[tomd]

Reminds me of Brian Boyle back in the day. Risky pick that took a very long time to develop. Boston may have to wait 6-8 years to see how he works out.

 

[Satan]

Cant teach size

 

[Kiirin]

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

 

[GTA]

Reminds me of a poor man’s Logan Brown

 

[Tryamkin]

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

I’m not sure you understand how these drafts work my friend. Those players were picked as long term prospects based on their raw potential. If Dean was producing at a PPG pace in the NCAA with his size and strength, he would’ve been looked at as a top 5 slam dunk pick

 

[MS]

I’m not sure you understand how these drafts work my friend. Those players were picked as long term prospects based on their raw potential. If Dean was producing at a PPG pace in the NCAA with his size and strength, he would’ve been looked at as a top 5 slam dunk pick

Conversely, if teams would have known that Letourneau would have struggled this much this season, there's no way he goes before the 3rd round of the draft.

 

[Tryamkin]

Conversely, if teams would have known that Letourneau would have struggled this much this season, there's no way he goes before the 3rd round of the draft.

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.

 

[wickedwitch]

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.

BC almost always rolls 4 lines. He gets plenty of 5v5 ice time.

 

[jtechkid]

BC almost always rolls 4 lines. He gets plenty of 5v5 ice time.

just dont get why ge didnt go to ushl and develop his talents - makes no sense really go from his level to college. he looks like a bust to me - has no real pace in his feet or hands .

 

[Kegs]

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

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.

 

[Hockey Duckie]

Conversely, if teams would have known that Letourneau would have struggled this much this season, there's no way he goes before the 3rd round of the draft.

Team scouts probably knew Letourneau was a long term project. The jump from CA high school to NCAA level was probably too big a jump to have great expectations. Here is a blurb from Chris Peters from FloHockey on Letourneau's MyNHLdraft page:

Chris Peters - Flo Hockey - June 3rd: "He’s going to be on a long development timeline because there’s still a rawness to his game and it’s harder to gauge hockey sense when the game seemingly comes easy to the player at the level they’re at. Letourneau is slated to go to the USHL next season and head to Boston College after that."​

Letourneau should have taken the USHL route before jumping to the NCAA level. That was too big a jump for Letourneau. Many NCAA players do take the USHL route. Since all the scouts knew he was a long term project, this year's production or lack of doesn't put a dent into Letourneau's potential. We will have to revisit his production in two to three years to see if the gamble was worth it.

 

[bigdog16]

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.

 

[Tryamkin]

BC almost always rolls 4 lines. He gets plenty of 5v5 ice time.

He averages 10 minutes a game. He’s gotten 8 minutes the last few ones as well. That’s not plenty of ice time man

 

[Kiirin]

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.

Tons of players excelled in their NCAA D+1 year as 18-year-olds. Some examples that come to MY mind include Cole Caufield, Matty Beniers, Matt Boldy, Cale Makar, Quinn Hughes, Trevor Zegras, Will Smith, and Gabriel Perreault, etc. I could go on forever.

Dean was a 6'7 214 lb physically mature monster dominating against high school children half his size thus giving the illusion he was talented. He's your typical bust giant prospect who winds up amounting to nothing because outside of their physique they lack the processing speed, the offensive upside, and the pace to play in the NHL. So unless he finds his niche as a high-energy grinder like Michael McCarron, playing more than 200 games in the league will be impossible.

As for E.J., he's completely useless offensively and I don't understand what the Rangers saw in this guy. Being a stay-at-home, shutdown defenseman shouldn't justify being a liability offensively, especially in today's game, which emphasizes skill and talent.

 

[Kegs]

Team scouts probably knew Letourneau was a long term project. The jump from CA high school to NCAA level was probably too big a jump to have great expectations. Here is a blurb from Chris Peters from FloHockey on Letourneau's MyNHLdraft page:

Chris Peters - Flo Hockey - June 3rd: "He’s going to be on a long development timeline because there’s still a rawness to his game and it’s harder to gauge hockey sense when the game seemingly comes easy to the player at the level they’re at. Letourneau is slated to go to the USHL next season and head to Boston College after that."​

Letourneau should have taken the USHL route before jumping to the NCAA level. That was too big a jump for Letourneau. Many NCAA players do take the USHL route. Since all the scouts knew he was a long term project, this year's production or lack of doesn't put a dent into Letourneau's potential. We will have to revisit his production in two to three years to see if the gamble was worth it.

I think he cares a lot about his education. That’s why he was in the Ontario prep school to begin with. Now he is 18 and starting college.

Tons of players excelled in their NCAA D+1 year as 18-year-olds. Some examples that come to MY mind include Cole Caufield, Matty Beniers, Matt Boldy, Cale Makar, Quinn Hughes, Trevor Zegras, Will Smith, and Gabriel Perreault, etc. I could go on forever.

Dean was a 6'7 214 lb physically mature monster dominating against high school children half his size thus giving the illusion he was talented. He's your typical bust giant prospect who winds up amounting to nothing because outside of their physique they lack the processing speed, the offensive upside, and the pace to play in the NHL. So unless he finds his niche as a high-energy grinder like Michael McCarron, playing more than 200 games in the league will be impossible.

As for E.J., he's completely useless offensively and I don't understand what the Rangers saw in this guy. Being a stay-at-home, shutdown defenseman shouldn't justify being a liability offensively, especially in today's game, which emphasizes skill and talent.

playing with mid level kids that can’t even make the chl and then jumping into the ncaa seems impressive to me. Again I don’t watch it. But why does BU even play him if he is so terrible? Shouldn’t he be in the press box? Was someone else drafted after him they should have taken?


I didn’t double check but I doubt any of those players you mentioned played such a low level before they jumped into the NCAA. It’s a massive jump. Scientifically he should be lost Out there. If he doesn’t look lost then I’ll be surprised.

 

[wickedwitch]

He averages 10 minutes a game. He’s gotten 8 minutes the last few ones as well. That’s not plenty of ice time man

I wrote he got plenty of 5v5 time. He gets 11:21 minutes per game from what I can see. BC is averaging ~8 PIM/game, so that leaves 52 minutes 5v5. 52/4 is 13, and he's only 1.5 minutes under that.

So yes, he's getting a good amount of 5v5 time, only ~10% less than the average BC forward.

(Besides, the BC PP sucks, so it's not like he's missing out on a ton of points from that.)

ETA: Actually, this isn't accurate, because taking out the PIMs doesn't account for the PP time. So he's even closer to the average amount of 5v5 time than 1.5 minutes.

 

[WhatTheDuck]

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.

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

 

[Kiirin]

playing with mid level kids that can’t even make the chl and then jumping into the ncaa seems impressive to me. Again I don’t watch it. But why does BU even play him if he is so terrible? Shouldn’t he be in the press box? Was someone else drafted after him they should have taken?

All projection. BC and Boston are hoping he becomes the next big boom player and they'll give him ample chances to prove himself because who wouldn't take a chance on 6'7 200 something pounds kid who scored 127 points in 56 games in his draft year?

I didn’t double check but I doubt any of those players you mentioned played such a low level before they jumped into the NCAA. It’s a massive jump. Scientifically he should be lost Out there. If he doesn’t look lost then I’ll be surprised.

Talent always outweighs the level of competition. Cale Makar, for example, played in an inferior league before joining UMass, and many of the others I listed have thrived in the NCAA after competing in the USHL which is considered a relatively weaker league by most scouts.

 

[The don godfather]

Look at Mason lohrei and how he panned out.

 

[Kegs]

All projection. BC and Boston are hoping he becomes the next big boom player and they'll give him ample chances to prove himself because who wouldn't take a chance on 6'7 200 something pounds kid who scored 127 points in 56 games in his draft year?


Talent always outweighs the level of competition. Cale Maker, for example, played in an inferior league before joining UMass, and many of the others I listed have thrived in the NCAA after competing in the USHL which is considered a relatively weaker league by most scouts.

Ok true, but the Alberta junior hockey league is still higher level than Ontario prep school. Makar did play in a lower level league than most players though. I agree that’s a decent example. Didn’t he go in the top 5 in his draft year tho? Dean was closer to a second round pick than he was to a lottery pick.

 

[WhatTheDuck]

All projection. BC and Boston are hoping he becomes the next big boom player and they'll give him ample chances to prove himself because who wouldn't take a chance on 6'7 200 something pounds kid who scored 127 points in 56 games in his draft year?


Talent always outweighs the level of competition. Cale Makar, for example, played in an inferior league before joining UMass, and many of the others I listed have thrived in the NCAA after competing in the USHL which is considered a relatively weaker league by most scouts.

Makar played in the AJHL, which is miles ahead of Canadian prep hockey where Letourneau just came from. Only the better players from Prep go on to leagues like the AJHL. There isn't a freshman in the NCAA who was made this big of a jump up in levels this year, and then he's also at a top program to boot. Let's see where he's at in a couple years.

 

[Dempsey]

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.