Jack Rathbone (born May 20, 1999) is an American professional

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. Tw ...

defenseman Defence or defense (in American English) in ice hockey is a player position that is primarily responsible for preventing the opposing team from Goal (ice hockey), scoring. They are often referred to as defencemen, D, D-men or blueliners (the l ...

for the

Rochester Americans The Rochester Americans (colloquially known as the Amerks) are a professional ice hockey team based in Rochester, New York. They are the American Hockey League affiliate of the National Hockey League's Buffalo Sabres. The team plays its home g ...

of the

American Hockey League The American Hockey League (AHL) is a professional ice hockey league in North America that serves as the primary developmental league of the National Hockey League (NHL). The league comprises 32 teams, with 26 in the United States and 6 in Cana ...

(AHL) while under contract to the

Buffalo Sabres The Buffalo Sabres are a professional ice hockey team based in Buffalo, New York. The Sabres compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NHL), Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL), Eastern Con ...

of the

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; , ''LNH'') is a professional ice hockey league in North America composed of 32 teams25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. The NHL is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Cana ...

(NHL). Rathbone was drafted 95th overall in the 2017 NHL entry draft by the

Vancouver Canucks The Vancouver Canucks are a professional ice hockey team based in Vancouver. The Canucks compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division (NHL), Pacific Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Conferenc ...

, with whom he began his NHL career.

Early life

Rathbone was born in

West Roxbury West Roxbury is a neighborhood in Boston, Massachusetts, United States, bordered by Roslindale and Jamaica Plain to the northeast, the village of Chestnut Hill and the town of Brookline to the north, the city of Newton to the northwest, t ...

Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...

to parents Jason and Beth. His father was a draft pick of the New York Islanders in 1988 and coached him during his time with the Cape Cod Whalers. Rathbone is also the oldest of three siblings, a brother and sister, and grew up a

Boston Bruins The Boston Bruins are a professional ice hockey team based in Boston. The Bruins compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NHL), Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL), Eastern Conference. The t ...

fan.

Playing career

Amateur

Growing up in Massachusetts, Rathbone played ice hockey for the Mass Midget Select League's Cape Cod Whalers and

Dexter Southfield School The Dexter Southfield School is an independent co-educational day school located in Brookline, Massachusetts, educating students from pre-kindergarten through twelfth grade. Dexter Southfield was founded in 1926 as the Dexter School. In 2013 the ...

. During his first year with the U18 Whalers team, he recorded eight goals and 18 points which he superseded the following year by posting 16 goals and 35 points in 22 games. Although Rathbone missed four weeks of the season due to a concussion, he was still considered a ALL-USA Player of the Year candidate. Rathbone committed to play

NCAA Division I NCAA Division I (D-I) is the highest division of intercollegiate athletics sanctioned by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States, which accepts players globally. D-I schools include the major collegiate athlet ...

ice hockey with the

Harvard Crimson The Harvard Crimson is the nickname of the college sports teams of Harvard College. The school's teams compete in NCAA Division I. As of 2013, there were 42 Division I intercollegiate Varsity team, varsity sports teams for women and men at Harva ...

in 2015 but chose to complete his education at Dexter rather than join the

United States Hockey League The United States Hockey League (USHL) is the top junior ice hockey league sanctioned by USA Hockey. The league consists of 16 active teams located in the Midwestern United States and Great Plains, for players between the ages of 16 and 21. Th ...

(USHL) to remain closer to his family and autistic brother. Throughout the 2016–17 season, Rathbone split his time between the Whalers, Dexter, and

Youngstown Phantoms The Youngstown Phantoms are a Tier I junior ice hockey team that plays in the Eastern Conference of the United States Hockey League (USHL). The team plays home games at the 5,200-seat Covelli Centre in Youngstown, Ohio. The team was co-owned ...

in the USHL. He played four games with the Phantoms and recorded one assist. During his senior year at Dexter, Rathbone was named captain and was ranked 57th overall by the

NHL Central Scouting Bureau The NHL Central Scouting Services (CSS) is a department within the National Hockey League (NHL) that ranks prospects for the NHL entry draft at specific times during the hockey season. Players are ranked based on how well they will translate t ...

in their final ranking of North American skaters. Prior to graduating, Rathbone was drafted 95th overall in the 2017 NHL entry draft by the

Collegiate

Rathbone joined the Harvard Crimson men's ice hockey team to compete in their 2018–19 season and received the Don Parsons Memorial Scholarship in recognition of his "character, community service, leadership and academics." As a freshman at Harvard, Rathbone skated in 33 games and finished the season with seven goals and 15 assists for 22 points. His first collegiate goal came against the

Quinnipiac Bobcats The Quinnipiac Bobcats are the 21 sports teams representing Quinnipiac University in Hamden, Connecticut in intercollegiate athletics. The Bobcats compete in the NCAA Division I and are members of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference, joining o ...

on November 2, 2018, and he finished the year with a seven-game point-streak. His seventh point in the same number of games came during a loss against Clarkson which effectively knocked Harvard out of the ECAC playoffs. As he completed the season second amongst league rookies in points, he was named to the ECAC Hockey All-Rookie Team. Rathbone re-joined the Harvard Crimson for his sophomore year and recorded 31 points in 28 games as the season was cut short due to

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

. Prior to the seasons' cancellation, Rathbone earned national recognition with an election to the First Team All-ECAC Hockey team and AHCA All-American First Team. Once the season was cancelled, Rathbone returned home and debated whether he should return to college or start his professional career.

Professional

On July 14, 2020, Rathbone signed a three-year entry-level contract with the Canucks, thus concluding his collegiate career. On May 6, 2021, Rathbone scored his first NHL goal in a 6–3 win against the Edmonton Oilers. On October 17, 2023, Rathbone was traded by the Canucks alongside

Karel Plášek Karel Plášek (born October 16, 1973) is a Czech former professional ice hockey player, who last played for HC Kohouti Česká Třebová in the Krajské hokejové přebory in 2019-20 season. Plášek previously played for in the Czech Extralig ...

to the

Pittsburgh Penguins The Pittsburgh Penguins (colloquially known as the Pens) are a professional ice hockey team based in Pittsburgh. The Penguins compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL), E ...

, in exchange for Mark Friedman and Ty Glover. He played out the remainder of the season with Pittsburgh's AHL affiliate, the

Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins The Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (sometimes known as the WBS Penguins) are a professional ice hockey team based in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. They are the American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate of the National Hockey League's Pittsburgh Pengui ...

, registering 8 goals and 24 points through 67 regular season games. As a free agent from the Penguins, Rathbone was signed to a one-year, two-way contract with the Buffalo Sabres on July 1, 2024.

International play

Rathbone was named to Team USA to compete during the 2015 Under-17 Five Nations Tournament. He recorded two goals in their final game against Germany to clinch first place at the tournament.

Career statistics

Awards and honors

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Rathbone, Jack 1999 births Living people Abbotsford Canucks players AHCA Division I men's ice hockey All-Americans American ice hockey defensemen Harvard Crimson men's ice hockey players People from West Roxbury, Boston Rochester Americans players Utica Comets players Vancouver Canucks draft picks Vancouver Canucks players Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins players Youngstown Phantoms players