Performance Evaluation: After making his NHL debut in a late-season game against Chicago and his Stanley Cup Playoffs debut in an elimination game against Edmonton back in the spring of 2024, Bourque entered last season with high aspirations. The rookie had his sights set on cementing his spot in the Dallas lineup, and managed to do so for the most part. Aside from a handful of healthy scratches, Bourque was a regular member of the Stars’ forward group and played 73 total games in the 2024-25 campaign. He shifted up and down the lines, getting a brief look on the top line but primarily skating in the bottom-six. And while he spent most games skating on the right wing, he also took 348 faceoffs (sixth-most on the team), winning 46.3 percent of them. And like many rookies in their first go-round in the NHL, Bourque’s season output was largely split into two halves. After posting just two goals and five assists in the first 33 games of the season, the rookie found a groove shortly after the calendar flipped to 2025. In the 21 games that followed, Bourque registered seven goals and six assists for 13 points along with a plus-four rating. Three of those points came on the power play. Bourque became a steady contributor to the Stars’ offensive push and played a clean, efficient brand of hockey that saw him also post just eight penalty minutes. That tied him with Oskar Bäck for fewest on the team among skaters with at least 25 games played. One of the more interesting tidbits from Bourque’s year was his production away from home. The rookie posted 16 points (eight goals, eight assists) in 37 road games as opposed to just nine points (three goals, six assists) in 36 home contests. Included in the performance was a 10-point outburst in the first 13 road games of 2025. He finished the season with 11 goals and 25 points in total, both of which landed him in the top 15 among rookies. But once the postseason rolled around, Bourque only drew into the lineup three times and served as the healthy scratch for the majority of the run.
