By: Neil Simmons | Follow me on Twitter / X: @NSimmz
The Boston Bruins will have 13 prospects playing college hockey this upcoming season, spread out across eight teams and five conferences, and with varying likelihoods of futures in pro hockey. With puck drop just a few weeks away, it’s a good time to take stock of the class and reacquaint yourself with the names to keep an eye on.
- Dean Letourneau – C – Boston College
Letourneau is the consensus pick to headline the group this year after his breakout sophomore season on Chestnut Hill. His 22-17-39 stat line led all Bruins returners in goals and points, and he projects as the Eagles’ top dog this coming year. A strong junior campaign could have a pro contract with the Bruins waiting for him by springtime.
- Will Zellers – RW – North Dakota
Zellers rode the momentum of a USHL Player of the Year season into college and hit the ground running at North Dakota. He finished his freshman year as the second-leading goal scorer (18) on a veteran-laden Fighting Hawks squad that won the regular-season title in the toughest conference in college hockey and made the Frozen Four. He’ll be counted on heavily as a sophomore as the only top-line forward returning to Grand Forks.
- Elliott Groenewold – D – Quinnipiac
Groenewold led the nation in plus/minus with the highest figure in a decade (+39), and led the Bobcats in goals from the blueline as one of just two players on the roster to average 20 minutes per game. He’s been one of Rand Pecknold’s most heavily deployed defensemen since he arrived, and his responsibilities should only grow as an upperclassman, especially now with a letter on his chest.
- Ryan Walsh – C – Cornell
The only returning team captain in this year’s class of college Bruins, Walsh has been Cornell’s leading man for the past two seasons. He led the team in scoring as a sophomore (34pts) and fell just one point short of doing it again last year (33pts), while averaging 20 minutes a game as the only forward to do so. The Big Red go as Walsh goes, and there’s no reason to expect that to change in his senior season.
- Chris Pelosi – C – Quinnipiac
There’s an argument that no one in the Bruins pipeline scores goals in the dirty areas better than Pelosi. His net-front presence may be the most visible aspect of his game, but he plays with a two-way skill set. Pelosi finished third in goalscoring on the Bobcats last season (18), including a team-high six on the power play and another shorthanded, while winning 52% on over 400 faceoffs. There’s a reason coach Pecknold also named him an assistant captain this year.
- Cooper Simpson – LW – North Dakota
Simpson arrives in North Dakota following an almost identical path to Zellers, coming off his own dominant USHL season (34-40-74 with Youngstown) into a Fighting Hawks lineup with holes to fill in the top six. His good friend is already proof of concept that Dane Jackson knows how to get the most out of talented young wingers, and a similar freshman year shouldn’t be out of the question.
- Will Moore – C – Boston College
Moore spent most of his freshman year buried on BC’s third line, and could climb the rankings by season’s end. The Eagles’ second-line center role is up for grabs, and he is one of the leading candidates to fill it. A season of consistent top-six minutes could unleash the prospect that had first-round buzz for most of his draft year.
- Jonathan Morello – C – Boston University
Morello gets the nod over Hendrickson based on age and relative performance. His freshman line at BU (6-7-13) outpaced Hendrickson’s (3-9-12), with the added responsibility of a centerman. His two shorthanded goals didn’t hurt either.
- Beckett Hendrickson – LW – Minnesota
Hendrickson took a step forward from freshman to sophomore year, but with just 32 career points at 21, it’ll take a big leap to move the needle on his pro prospects. Losing a competition for playing time and spending another year in the Gophers’ bottom six would do him no favors.
- Kristian Kostadinski – D – Boston College
Kostadinski is still a project whose physical tools (6’6 “, 222 lbs per BC Athletics) are a work in progress on the blueline. His limited offensive production (0-3-3 in 34 games as a freshman) puts a hard ceiling on his upside, and while he skated on the Eagles’ second defense pair, he was very much fourth in a three-horse race. There are minutes to go around this year, and progress in his development could have him move up the board.
- Roberto “Leo” Henriquez – G – Boston College
Goaltenders are the great unknown. Henriquez posted a strong campaign with the Green Bay Gamblers last season, leading the USHL in save % (.921), but lands in a crowded BC goaltending room with an entrenched starter in Louka Cloutier and two senior backups (Jan Korec, Alex Musielak). It’s possible he doesn’t see any game time this year.
- Casper Nassen – RW – Lake Superior State
Nassen is in a similar, albeit more difficult, situation to Hendrickson. He improved statistically in his sophomore year, but a shrinking role led him to hit the transfer portal for Lake Superior State. A strong season could help, but at 22 with just 28 career points, neither time nor body of work is on Nassen’s side.
- Cole Spicer – C – Western Michigan
Spicer hasn’t been able to stay healthy for years, and when he has, his production hasn’t been enough to make him a legitimate pro prospect. He’ll be a good story to root for if he can end his college career on his own terms, but it’s hard to envision much else.
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