The NHL prospect diet: 4,500 calories per day, 7 meals and a big grocery bill — ‘it’s a job’

BRIGHTON, Mass. — Dean Letourneau is 6-foot-7 and 214 pounds. By the time he turns pro, the 18-year-old Boston Bruins prospect wants to check in at 235 pounds.

“Another couple years,” Letourneau, selected 25th in the 2024 NHL Draft, said of reaching his optimal weight.

Letourneau is aiming for his goal with plenty of gym time. He will be equally occupied at the kitchen table. 

For breakfast, Letourneau usually has cereal if he’s in a hurry. Eggs and toast if he has time. He gets hungry for lunch quickly. He’ll have a quesadilla and yogurt with granola. He snacks during the day.

For dinner, if father Jeff is working the grill, Letourneau raises his hand for steak.

“I’ll have a couple of those,” Letourneau, a skilled center headed to Boston College for 2024-25, said with a smile. “Two or three.”

Letourneau acknowledged his parents are not pleased with the grocery bill.

Hard work

On July 6, Macklin Celebrini, the No. 1 pick of the 2024 NHL Draft, signed his entry-level contract with the San Jose Sharks. The stocky 6-foot, 190-pound Celebrini appears to have a body ready for NHL battle. 

Connor Bedard, selected No. 1 in 2023, entered the league at 5-foot-10 and 185 pounds. Bedard’s sturdy build, among other things, helped the Chicago Blackhawks center win the Calder Trophy.

Most teenage hockey players are not as prepared or developed.

Jonathan Morello, the Bruins’ No. 154 pick in 2024, is a 6-foot-2, 187-pound forward. The slender 17-year-old will be a freshman at Clarkson University in 2025-26. By the end of the summer, Morello would like to weigh 195 pounds. 

It won’t be easy.

“It’s definitely a struggle,” Morello said of putting on weight. “It’s something I have to work on and really focus on. It doesn’t come easy for me. Sometimes, I wish it would.”

Morello is more of the rule when it comes to NHL prospects. They are years away from breaking into the league, and one of the biggest reasons is their bodies are still under construction. 

For example, a 35-year-old veteran like Sergei Bobrovsky (6-foot-2, 188 pounds) has stabilized his caloric intake. NHL wannabes are busy eating around the clock.

“The pros know what their playing weight should be,” said Bruins nutritionist Julie Nicoletti. “They know how to manipulate what they’re doing and what they’re eating to maintain that playing weight. Whereas an 18-year-old is still growing. Their bodies are still changing so much. So for somebody who’s a little undersized, we’re really kind of forcing their progression a little bit where we’re trying to get them bigger and stronger as quickly as possible.”

Bruins nutritionist Julie Nicoletti says “it’s a job” for NHL prospects to keep weight on. (Photo courtesy of the Bruins)

During the offseason, Morello targets 4,500 calories as his daily threshold. Frequency of meals matters just as much, if not more, as total input. The 17-year-old eats seven times a day between skates and off-ice workouts.

“If I have three meals spread out throughout the day, that’s not going to be enough to sustain me,” Morello said. “So I’ve got to wake up early, eat, then eat every three hours until I go to bed.”

Breakfast is Morello’s favorite. A typical spread includes four eggs, two bagels, bacon, fruit and a protein shake. 

For the rest of the day, Morello targets between 25 and 30 grams of protein at every meal. Even if he isn’t hungry, it’s critical to eat to reach his goal.

“It’s a job. It really is,” Nicoletti said. “We think losing weight at our age is difficult. Gaining weight at their age is really challenging. It’s not comfortable for them to feel that full all the time. For some kids, it makes them feel like their energy is zapped because they’re using so much energy to digest their food. For some of them, their stomachs can’t tolerate it. It’s not for the faint of heart.”

Clean eating

Some prospects’ path to weight gain is as simple as looking at a friend’s plate. In Nicoletti’s world, she comes across teenagers executing what’s known as a dirty bulk. 

Pizza, fries and sweets can help a young person without professional on-ice aspirations fill out. They would do the same for an NHL prospect. His performance, however, would suffer.

“They really don’t feel good,” Nicoletti said. “It’s bad for their gut microbiome. It’s bad for their mental health. It’s bad for their performance. It’s bad for their body composition.”

The point is that quality matters.

So for a typical offseason day, Nicoletti recommends a sample menu:

• First breakfast: oatmeal with fruit and peanut butter
• Post-workout snack: protein shake, banana with peanut butter, fruit
• Second breakfast: eggs, avocado, turkey bacon, fruit, potatoes
• Lunch: burrito bowl with double chicken, rice, beans, vegetables
• Mid-afternoon snack: yogurt, fruit
• First dinner: meatballs
• Second dinner: salmon, vegetables, pasta
• Pre-bed snack: protein shake

GO DEEPER

Six diet tips from an NHL nutritionist: How young players can eat like professional athletes

Matt Poitras made 33 appearances for the Bruins in 2023-24. Shoulder surgery on Feb. 7 ended his first season. 

In one way, the procedure advanced the 20-year-old’s physical progression. He found it easier to gain weight because doctors forbade him from going on the ice after surgery. Poitras estimates he has gained about nine pounds since his final game.

Chipotle is a favorite for lunch: burrito, chips, queso. Afternoons have been for peanut butter sandwiches.

“I’ve never really been able to put on a lot of weight,” Poitras said. “So it was a little bit hard. But it also helped where I was really only working out and I wasn’t skating for three months. So I wasn’t burning as many calories. Easier to keep on the weight when I put it on with muscle.”

One of Nicoletti’s most important tips is the protein shake before bed. She explained that it’s easier to maximize intake by drinking calories instead of eating them. A 500-calorie smoothie late at night is bang for the buck. 

“That’s the main thing that helps me put on weight,” Chris Pelosi, a 19-year-old Bruins forward, said of his protein drink. “Because if I drink that right before bed, I’m not burning it off right away. It’s just sitting in there. The next morning, I can just restart.”

Pelosi will be a freshman at Quinnipiac University this fall. The 6-foot-1, 181-pounder wants to weigh 195 pounds by the time he turns pro.

“You’re burning just as much,” Pelosi said of tipping intake over expenditure. “You’ve just got to force it down.”

(Top photo of Dean Letourneau: Danielle Parhizkaran / Getty Images)