Boston College Men's Hockey Forward Dean Letourneau Reveals Broken Hand Injury at Bruins Camp

Boston College men’s hockey forward Dean Letourneau—the first-round pick of the Boston Bruins in the 2024 National Hockey League (NHL) Draft—did not necessarily dazzle in his first season on the Heights like some might have expected him to.

After tearing up prep school hockey at St. Andrew’s College in Ontario, totaling 127 points (61 goals, 66 assists) through 56 games in his last season, Letourneau tallied just three assists with a plus-6 rating for the Eagles.

The 6-foot-7, 210-pound forward struggled after choosing to play for Greg Brown instead of returning to the United States Hockey League (USHL) with the Sioux Fall Stampede, which prospective American college hockey players typically do for development purposes.

However, part of the reason for his struggles in the early stages of his collegiate career came to light on Monday afternoon at the Bruins’ Development Camp.

According to 985 The Sports Hub’s Ty Anderson, Letourneau revealed that he played the first half of his freshman season in Chestnut Hill with a broken hand. The report said that Letourneau fixed his broken hand around Christmas time, about a third of the way into the season.

Brown, BC’s head coach, never officially mentioned Letourneau’s injury to the media during the hockey season, nor did Letourneau—who very rarely made media appearances in the first place.

Also: At development camp today, 2024 first-round pick Dean Letourneau revealed he played first half of 2024-25 season at BC with a broken hand. Got it fixed around Christmas.
— Ty Anderson (@_TyAnderson) June 30, 2025

Letourneau exited an exhibition game against the United States National Team Development Program on October 24, 2024, but the reason for the injury was deemed short-term and there was no mention of what the cause for it was.

Sounds like there will be no Dean Letourneau tonight for Boston College. Suffered an injury vs NTDP last game.
— Robert Chalmers (@IvanIvanlvan) October 26, 2024

While Letourneau’s expectations soared heading into 2024-25—and rightfully so for a first-round NHL Draft pick, especially with BC’s history of success from young NHL-bound talent from the likes of former first rounders Cutter Gauthier, Will Smith, Ryan Leonard and Gabe Perreault—this new report clears up some of the air regarding his inability to produce.

Speaking to the media last Wednesday, Bruins general manager Don Sweeney admitted that the organization placed too fast of a timeline on Letourneau and should have let him develop for a season in Sioux Falls, S. Dak.

“We talked a little bit about what would have been the best place in terms of Dean and in hindsight, I think we all agreed that maybe another year in the USHL, a full year of USHL would have been the best path,” Sweeney said.

Sweeney told reporters that Letourneu’s physicality translated well to the college game and that Boston is mentoring his progression during his sophomore-year campaign. Letourneau is set to return to Chestnut Hill in the fall and has a chance to prove himself.