Bruins Select Dean Letourneau In First Round Of 2024 NHL Draft
The Bruins selected forward Dean Letourneau with the 25th overall pick in the 2024 NHL Draft on Friday night.
Boston’s selection comes after it acquired the pick as part of the trade with the Ottawa Senators for goaltender Linus Ullmark.
Letourneau is committed to playing at Boston College in the fall. He formerly played for St. Andrew’s College, a prep school in Aurora, Ontario. He led St. Andrews with 127 points (61 goals, 66 assists) in 56 games in the 2023-24 season, including a league-best 25 points in 14 games in the Prep Hockey Conference.
The 6-foot-7, 214-pound prospect is a right-hand shot who has plenty of athleticism. In addition to hockey, Letourneau played soccer, basketball, tennis, volleyball and lacrosse growing up.
“He’s got size, he can skate, he’s got pretty good hockey sense,” Central Scouting director Dan Marr said, per NHL.com’s Adam Kimelman. “The numbers, they’re a little off the charts and you can’t compare apples to oranges … all we know is he knows how to get open and get those scoring chances.”
Letourneau was selected by Owen Sound of the Ontario Hockey League in the ninth round of the 2022 OHL draft but opted to go to St. Andrews instead.
“He moves really well for a big guy,” St. Andrews coach David Manning said, per Kimelman. “His skating and his agility and his explosiveness are all very different for a bigger guy like him. … I think he’s going to shock a lot of people with his athleticism. He’s not your typical big, lanky guy.”
NHL Central Scouting ranked Letourneau 23rd among North American skaters heading into the 2024 draft.
The Bruins had not been in the first draft round since 2021, when the Black and Gold selected Fabian Lysell with the 21st overall pick.