NHL Prospect Pool Overview 2024-25: Boston Bruins Still Gamble the Future for the Now

The Boston Bruins have been a consistently competitive squad for ages. What does that mean for their prospect pool? Well, Tony Ferrari goes in-depth to answer that.

After opening with the Anaheim Ducks, the NHL prospect pool overviews continue with the Boston Bruins.

In this series, Tony Ferrari digs into each NHL team’s strengths and weaknesses, gives a quick overview of their latest draft class, shows where each team's positional depth chart stands and looks at who could be next in line for an NHL chance.

A player who no longer holds rookie eligibility in the NHL is considered graduated and no longer considered a prospect for the purposes of these exercises, except in very specific cases.

The Bruins have been a picture of consistency in being among the NHL's best. They have made the playoffs every year since 2017 and have only missed the playoffs twice since 2007. 

When a team is as competitive as the Bruins have been, it generally means they have traded picks and prospects along the way to stay competitive, which leaves the pipeline a bit barren. That is, in fact, the case in Boston.

The Bruins have Fabian Lysell, their 2021 first-round pick, who will compete for a spot in the lineup when training camp rolls around. He plays an uptempo game with some slick playmaking and underrated goal-scoring ability. Lysell has a bit of an edge to his game as well.

Brandon Bussi might be their next best prospect, but at 26 years old, his time as a true prospect is gone, and he is ready to take a step into the NHL lineup. The only problem is that, as has been the case when Jeremy Swayman and Linus Ullmark held down the crease, the situation ahead of him with Swayman and Joonas Korpisalo may prevent him from getting NHL time. If he gets an opportunity, he must lock down a roster spot.

Boston drafted Brett Harrison a couple of years ago, and he hasn’t quite taken the step forward that they hoped. He struggled in his first full AHL season, so this season will be important for his development. He is a smart and efficient forward who plays at a slow pace, which might hamper his upside.

The Bruins' system really falls off a cliff after that. Trevor Kuntar racked up plenty of penalty minutes in the AHL but struggled to find his footing offensively. John Farinacci had a decent year, but the 23-year-old is getting to put up or shut up time. The B’s need someone to step up among their limited pool of depth prospects.

Matthew Poitras (C), Mason Lohrei (D), John Beecher (C)

Round 1, 25th overall - Dean Letourneau, C/W, St. Andrews College (CAN-HS)

Round 4, 110th overall - Elliott Groenewold, LD, Cedar Rapids (USHL)

Round 5, 154th overall - Jonathan Morello, C, St. Michaels (OJHL)

Round 6, 186th overall - Loke Johansson, LD, AIK Jr. (Swe.)

After trading their 2024 first-round pick for Tyler Bertuzzi last trade deadline, only for it to be traded again in the summer, the Bruins re-acquired the picks in a deal that sent 2023 Vezina Trophy winner Linus Ullmark to the Ottawa Senators. They used their first-round pick on Dean Letourneau, a forward who absolutely torched Canadian high school hockey.

Letourneau becomes one of their top prospects almost immediately. Whether he ends up on the wing or down the middle is still a question. He will be heading to Boston College in the fall with just two USHL games under his belt, so it could be an eye-opening experience for him. The jump from Canadian high school to college hockey is as big as they come.

Letourneau is 6-foot-7 and isn’t afraid to impose his will physically. He has a heavy release as a shooter, and because he draws so much attention, he can find teammates who are open. He might have a longer development path, but there is plenty of upside. The Bruins just need to be patient.

Groenewold was their second pick, but Boston had to wait until the fourth round to make that selection. The big, mobile defender brings some physicality, and he has shown himself to be a decent passer. He isn’t anything spectacular, but the Bruins have found solid yet unheralded defenders in the USHL before with Mason Lohrei.

Finding talent in Jr. A hockey in Canada is always tough, and it’s even less common when you draft out of the OJHL. The B’s hope Jonathan Morello is the exception to that rule. He didn’t blow the doors off in the regular season but had almost two points per game in the playoffs. His skating is probably his best asset, but a wicked shot is a close second. He’s slated to head to Clarkson University, where he will take the slow path, developing in the NCAA over the next couple of years.

The Bruins love a physical defender, and that’s what they are getting in Loke Johansson. He isn’t much of a puck-moving threat beyond the odd flash of nice passing on the breakout, but his brutish nature in his own end screams “Bruins prospect.” He’s played against men at the Allsvenskan level, and continued growth there will be exactly what Boston will want.

Almost every team has a strength in their pipeline, but the Bruins are one of the very few teams that don’t. 

They have some centers that show some NHL promise, such as newly drafted Dean Letourneau or 2021 third-rounder Brett Harrison, but both may end up on the wing. 

Lysell is their clear-cut top prospect, but he’s really the only right winger of note, so that’s not really a strength. They have plenty of left-shot defensemen but would be lucky to get one NHLer out of the group. 

The Bruins have been competitive for well over a decade, which tends to leave your cupboards bare. Maybe they’d like more than one Stanley Cup in that span of time, but they’ve been a true contender for most of that time.

Everything, everywhere, all at once. 

I’m not talking about the critically acclaimed film from 2022. I’m talking about the Bruins' prospect system.

They really do need just about everything. They don’t have many young players on the roster who will be able to make a major impact. Aside from Lysell and maybe Letourneau, they don’t have much in terms of high-impact players coming. Bussi is a really solid goalie prospect, but there is a blockade in front of him, with Swayman and Korpisalo likely holding down the NHL spots.

The Bruins are in an interesting position. They have managed to stay competitive over the last couple of seasons, but they’ve seen some important players depart. 

Veterans, such as Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci retired, while others, such as Jake DeBrusk and Ullmark, left in free agency or trades. For the first time in a long time, the Bruins truly seem in flux with plenty of roster spots available.

Enter Fabian Lysell. The highly skilled, high-paced Swedish forward might be exactly what the doctor ordered. The Bruins need an injection of skill and speed, and Lysell brings both. He is relentless in pursuit of the puck, and when he gets it on his stick, he's always looking to up the tempo. He has the motor to play up and down the lineup and the skill to eventually lock down a top-six spot. This should be the year we finally see Lysell take hold of an NHL roster spot.

LW: Trevor Kuntar, Oskar Jellvik

C: Dean Letourneau, Brett Harrison, Jonathan Morello, John Farinacci, Andre Gasseau

RW: Fabian Lysell

LD: Eliiott Groenewold, Loke Johansson, Jackson Edward, Kristian Kostadinski

RD: Ryan Mast, Jonathan Myrenberg

G: Brandon Bussi

For a deeper dive into the prospect pool with player rankings, check out the Yearbook and Future Watch print editions in The Hockey News.