The Offseason Diet, Routine and Family Time That Has Dean Letourneau Feeling His Best

BOSTON –– The Letourneau household fridge is always stocked.

Such is the summer mandate for Boston Bruins prospect Dean Letourneau’s parents, Jeff and Vicki, as all three of their sons are home for the offseason.

Letourneau, who was the B’s first-round pick (25th overall) in 2024, came into this week’s Development Camp standing at 6-foot-7 and 235 pounds. The 20-year-old hit 240 pounds, he said, but dropped a bit because he has been skating more as his training picks up.

Letourneau’s older brother, Jace, is also a hockey player. He is entering his second season of NCAA competition at Clarkson University. Jace is filling out his 6-foot-5 frame, too. The eldest of the three, Ty, doesn’t play the sport, but is still another mouth to feed.​

“It’s pretty loud. A lot of food,” Letourneau said. “My parents are probably not too happy with the grocery bill. But it’s awesome being able to see them.”

Letourneau will head back home to Arnprior, Ontario, CAN, at the conclusion of camp. He is coming off of a breakout sophomore showing at Boston College, and is looking to take on more top-six responsibility in his third year with the Eagles. His size is something coaches cannot teach, and he is learning to fully use it to his advantage.

The towering center is working to get bigger and stronger, training at TG Athletics by Tony Greco, and diet has also been a key part of that.

“I eat the same thing every breakfast. It’s just a bowl of yogurt, a scoop of protein powder and a banana. Lunch will be just a meal I kind of cook up quick; a protein shake after. Dinner is just whatever my parents put on the table. Usually it is like steak or chicken. A lot of protein,” Letourneau said. “Try to get some veggies in there. I am not a huge veggie person – I usually like eating the protein. And then a bunch of snacks mixed in throughout the day. It is kind of like random stuff, whether it’s salami and cheese or more yogurt. My dad cooks up a bunch of chicken just to have in there that we can snack on.”

Beyond the assistance in the kitchen, going home offers Letourneau a chance to reset away from hockey. He is in a unique position – skating for a college team in the same city where he was drafted in the first round. It is a privilege, of course, but also comes with pressure. Letourneau dealt with it the hard way during his freshman campaign in 2024-25.

Before getting to the NCAA, Letourneau never had trouble producing. He made the jump a year early due to Boston College’s roster construction. Letourneau logged three assists through 36 games in his first year.

“Coming off the first year, I think confidence was probably the biggest issue,” Letourneau said.

He did not let the fourth-line, limited-minutes role deter him from continuing his push, though. Instead, Letourneau focused on other areas of his game that could help his team win, like the defensive side. He gained trust from Eagles head coach Greg Brown, which in turn allowed him to find himself in more offensively opportunistic situations.

​By the end of his sophomore year, Letourneau had 39 points (22 goals, 17 assists) through 36 games. He had the second-most points and goals on the team behind none other than James Hagens. Letourneau earned Hockey East Third Team All-Star honors after posting 12 goals and 10 assists in league play, and was a Hobey Baker nominee.

Letourneau finished the season as the first-line center, with Hagens on his left wing and Oscar Hemming on his right. He felt like he was “back.”

“It started to feel more natural. I haven’t had a season like my freshman year. It started to feel a little more common as the year went on. Just kind of getting in the groove of scoring and putting up points and producing. It’s a great feeling,” Letourneau said. “The goal is to go back to BC and have a more dominant year and see what happens from there.”

Adam McQuaid, the Bruins’ director of player development, was impressed with how Letourneau handled the adversity.

“He just took a step in pretty well all facets of his game. I think he was just more accustomed to the pace of college hockey – we’ve talked about it enough times; it was a big jump the previous year. I give him a ton of credit because he stayed confident and believed in himself and stuck with the process. I think he learned a lot last year that he carried through into this year. He came in with high expectations for himself, and he had a great year,” McQuaid said. “He’s using his size a little bit more – he’s embracing that. Processing the game faster. And he’s taken steps physically; he’s getting stronger, quicker and all those things. The natural things for a kid his age.”

The summer between Letourneau’s freshman and sophomore season at home was important to him. That is why he is sticking to the same routine this year and leaning into his support system.

“I think that was a big part: going home, seeing my family. Kind of getting away from school a bit, getting a mental reset. And then just doing things that I habitually did growing up – like playing other sports, basketball, golf. I think that was a big thing to disconnect from the year and then have the fresh mindset going into year two,” Letourneau said. “I was just focused on getting better every day. It wasn’t like, ‘Oh, I need to make this big jump.’ It was, ‘I need to make a little jump every day.’”

Basketball was one of Letourneau’s favorite sports growing up, seemingly obvious because of his height, but it always overlapped with hockey season. Vicki, Letourneau’s mom, was a two-time All-Canadian basketball player at Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario. Jeff, his dad, played hockey.

There, accordingly, is always something competitive going on with his family, Letourneau said, whether it be board games, video games or swimming in the pool. The brothers will have a lot to debrief after this week. Jace is attending the Buffalo Sabres’ development camp; he went undrafted, and this is his first time at an NHL setup.

​“It’s pretty cool. I was excited for him. He’s kind of had some struggles in his career with injuries, so this is like his second full season kind of back, which has been great,” Letourneau said. “I am happy for him.”

Ty was at the University of New Brunswick doing teachers college and working as the hockey team's operations manager. He will join Letourneau in New England next year – Ty is going to UMass Amherst to intern for their hockey department.

“I think he’ll probably still root for UMass but cheer me on,” Letourneau said of when the Eagles and Minutemen face off.

The brotherly banter and simply feeling like a kid again are subconsciously part of Letourneau’s training plan. Of course, he has set his goals for next season – Letourneau said he wants to get better at protecting and holding onto the puck, creating opportunities from the corner and driving the net. But it is the pause – spent telling stories over the dinner table, tossing layups and sneaking the last piece of steak – that truly gets Letourneau ready to go again.

“Just disconnect, stay off of social media and you don’t even hear about anything,” Letourneau said. “You just kind of live one day at a time. That’s something that has been awesome for me.”