Don Sweeney Reveals How Close Bruins Were To Trading Pick

The Bruins’ primary focus is a Stanley Cup, so fans wouldn’t be too discouraged if they traded their first-round pick to try to get better in the short-term.

That wasn’t the case in The Sphere in Las Vegas when Boston selected Dean Letourneau with the 25th pick in the 2024 NHL Draft. The 6-foot-7 center offers a lot of upside and was an intriguing pick made by Don Sweeney and his staff. The Bruins general manager was asked in his post-draft news conference when the team had conviction to make their pick.

“When Dean was still on the board,” Sweeney told reporters, per team-provided video. “We had several opportunities to slide back. We saw a couple of teams do that same thing in terms of where the draft was heading. Our guys from Day 1 were excited that he may be there. Again, you can never just be focused on one player, but I think had he not been there, we might have been supportive of a move back.”

Letourneau was the first Round 1 choice from Boston since Fabian Lysell was taken in the 2021 NHL Draft. He’ll attend Boston College this fall and likely will make an appearance at the development camp next month.

Boston has three picks left in the 2024 NHL Draft after Friday with selections in the fourth, fifth and sixth rounds.