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Home >> Prospects >> Jack Rathbone – 2017 NHL Draft Prospect Profile

Jack Rathbone – 2017 NHL Draft Prospect Profile

JUNE 6TH, 2017 Jeff Hawkins JEFF HAWKINS

 

Jack Rathbone

2016-17 Team: Cape Cod Whalers (#5)

Date of Birth: May 20, 1999

Place of Birth: West Roxbury, Massachusetts

Ht.: 5’10” Wt.: 165 lbs

Shoots: Left

Position: Defenseman

NHL Draft Eligibility: Prospect is eligible for 2017 NHL Entry Draft.

Twitter: @jrathbone15

 Rankings

  • NHL Central Scouting: 57th (NA, Final)
  • NHL Central Scouting: 78th (NA, Mid-term)
  • Bob McKenzie: Unranked (Mid-season)
  • Craig Button: Unranked (March)
  • Jeff Marek: Unranked (October)
  • ISS: Unranked (May)

The son of former Boston College forward Jason Rathbone, Cape Cod Whalers defenseman Jack Rathbone is set to make a name for himself. Committed to play at Harvard next season, the smooth-skating Rathbone is poised to be selected in the middle rounds of the 2017 NHL Draft.

After sitting out nearly four weeks with a concussion, Rathbone returned to his prep team, Dexter School, in February and scored the game-winner during his first game back. A bit undersized, Rathbone will need to bulk up to compete effectively as he moves up in levels the next few seasons.

 
 

 

Following Dexter’s season, Rathbone joined the USHL’s Youngstown Phantoms for a brief stint. He posted one assist in the four games with the Phantoms. He also collected 12 points, including four goals, in 14 appearances with the Cape Cod Whalers of the MHSL.

Known for his swift skating style, Rathbone makes up for a lack of size with speed and defensive grit. He passes with precision and consistently pushes teammates in transition. Rathbone utilizes his mobility to elude fore-checkers and create offensive chances for himself and teammates. His patience for allowing plays to develop underscores his advanced hockey IQ.

 NHL Draft Projection

Despite concerns with his size and recent concussion issues, Rathbone’s fluid skating style and intensity will attract an NHL general manager to take a chance on the smallish blueliner. He is projected to be taken in the fourth round, but could go earlier if an organization has a need for a slick-skating, puck-moving defenseman.

Quotable

“Undersized defender with good vision, high-end skating ability and grit. Very elusive and uses his shiftiness to move pucks out of his zone and to the attack, which he will hop in on. His low center of gravity give him the ability to cannonball opponents and knock them off the puck.” – Bill Placzek, www.draftsite.com

 Statistics

Strengths

  • Skating ability
  • Quarterbacking the power play
  • Transition game

Under Construction (Improvements to Make)

  • Size
  • Decision-making

NHL Potential

NHL insiders project Rathbone will serve as organizational depth while he develops muscle mass. His elite footwork will enable Rathbone time to gain strength. With patience, scouts believe Rathbone will ease his way into becoming a top-six defenseman.

Risk-Reward Analysis

Risk – 3/5, Reward 4/5

Fantasy Hockey Potential

Offense – 7.5/10, Defense – 7/10

Awards/Achievements

Jack Rathbone was named to the USHS All-USA Hockey First team for 2016-17 and competed in the All-American Prospects Game in September 2016. He also was selected to be a candidate for Midseason American Family Insurance ALL-USA Player of the Year. In 2015, he helped lead the Whalers to a Midget Minor Tier 1 Massachusetts State Championship.

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Another solid pick. NCAA in the mid rounds is always a decent choice due to the extended development time and amount of gym work they get to do.

 

For a smaller, offensively minded guy like Rathbone it's a great development route.

 

Benning is having a nice little draft.

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1 minute ago, Where's Wellwood said:

Concussion history doesn't sound good. Anyone have any info on how significant his concussion was?

Quote

After sitting out nearly four weeks with a concussion, Rathbone returned to his prep team, Dexter School, in February and scored the game-winner during his first game back.

http://thehockeywriters.com/jack-rathbone-2017-nhl-draft-prospect-profile/

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I saw D then I saw his size and I waited to hear about his offensive upside. Seems he has it, with talk about both PP and puck moving abilities. Mid-rounds is when you can gamble on a smaller guy with some upside I guess, so we'll see how his development goes.

 

Seems like a quality individual though. Sticking around his prep school team in part due to his younger brother, who's autistic:

http://www.bostonherald.com/sports/bruins/2017/06/west_roxbury_nhl_prospect_jack_rathbone_has_priorities_in_right_place

Quote

...

In Rathbone’s time at the scouting combine in Buffalo, where he met with representatives from 18 NHL teams, that was foremost in the executives’ minds.

 

“That was honestly the main question that every team asked me. Just, ‘What’s your plan for next year?’” said Rathbone.

 

He could leave Dexter for the USHL, where he would be competing against older and more accomplished players and where he did play a handful games for Youngstown after his Dexter season last spring. But Rathbone plans to stay local when next season rolls around, and he has his reasons. The biggest one is his younger brother Teddy, who was diagnosed as autistic at a young age. Teddy is 8 years old, making good strides with his speech therapy and flourishing in an integrated classroom at the Joyce Kilmer School. For that reason, Jack would prefer to stick around for a while.

 

“He’s a big piece of my life, and I’m going to be honest, it would be tough to leave him for seven months out of the year at this stage,” said Jack, the oldest of Jason and Beth Rathbone’s three children. “He’s probably my best friend. So being able to stay home, being able to complete my four years at Dexter — they took a financial risk on me and my sister (Jayne), we wouldn’t be able to afford an education there — being able to finish my four years and getting my diploma, that means a lot to me and my family.”

 

Jason Rathbone, who played four years at Boston College and coached Jack with the South Shore Kings and Cape Cod Whalers, said Jack has played a big role in helping him and his wife in the everyday care of Teddy.

 

“Jack has helped my wife and me so much with Teddy,” said Jason. “It could be as severe as Teddy having a seizure and Jack has been there to help him get on his side and deal with it. Or it could be as simple as going swimming with him. We’ve got a little in-ground pool in the back, and Teddy always wants to go swimming, and my wife and I can’t always be there. Jack is always willing to hop in the pool with him and be with him.”

 

Whatever he gives to Teddy, Jack said, he gets back more in return.

 

“I hope to be a role model for him, but I don’t think he can learn any more from me than I learn from him,” said Jack. “His personality and the attitude that he brings to everyday life, he gives me a new perspective. He’s what drives me every day to be able to chase the dream of playing in the NHL one day because I know that he can’t. It’s tough to see. But at the same time, to see him at a family skate at Dexter, and just bringing him out on the ice, just little moments like that to see how happy he is, it’s what drives me to become the best player possible.”

 

And the motivation that Teddy’s been giving seems to be working. After posting 16 goals and 19 assists in 22 games for Dexter, Jack jumped 20 spots in the Central Scouting rankings from the midterm rankings to the final ones. He also showed up well at the physical testing at the combine, finishing tied for first in the pull-ups and posting another top-10 finish in the bench press.

...

 

Demko knows him as well:

 

Edited by elvis15
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15 minutes ago, BananaMash said:

Another solid pick. NCAA in the mid rounds is always a decent choice due to the extended development time and amount of gym work they get to do.

 

For a smaller, offensively minded guy like Rathbone it's a great development route.

 

Benning is having a nice little draft.

Agree with all this. Of course, anyone picked in the 4th round or later is a longshot to ever play in the NHL. But Rathbone's size was probably a key factor in his being picked this low.  There is a chance he continues to grow (like Tanev did, for example). And even a small D can make it to the NHL (like Stecher did). So, yeah, he is a long shot but he looks like a very reasonable lottery ticket.

 

I agree that Benning is having a good draft. I am feeling much better about this year's draft now than I was last night.

 

But I am now thinking even more strongly than before that Benning should not have traded away picks in earlier years. I am happy with the Baertschi trade for a second round pick of course, but I regret throwing in picks on the trades for Sutter and Gudbranson (and still don't like those trades overall but will see happens this year). And I regret the picks traded for Vey and Dorsett. I would have preferred to see Benning acquire a couple of extra picks instead. By now we could have some other very good prospects in the system if Benning had kept those picks and acquired some others.So I think the rebuild was delayed but this draft should help the prospect pipeline quite a lot. 

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10 minutes ago, JamesB said:

But I am now thinking even more strongly than before that Benning should not have traded away picks in earlier years. I am happy with the Baertschi trade for a second round pick of course, but I regret throwing in picks on the trades for Sutter and Gudbranson (and still don't like those trades overall but will see happens this year). And I regret the picks traded for Vey and Dorsett. I would have preferred to see Benning acquire a couple of extra picks instead. By now we could have some other very good prospects in the system if Benning had kept those picks and acquired some others.So I think the rebuild was delayed but this draft should help the prospect pipeline quite a lot. 

It's called valuation.  When the Canucks don't have much else in asset value to offer, you give what you need to.  There's no "throwing in picks" as if it's tossing in the vig.  And it actually accelerated the rebuild, getting actual players instead of prospects.

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9 minutes ago, JamesB said:

Agree with all this. Of course, anyone picked in the 4th round or later is a longshot to ever play in the NHL. But Rathbone's size was probably a key factor in his being picked this low.  There is a chance he continues to grow (like Tanev did, for example). And even a small D can make it to the NHL (like Stecher did). So, yeah, he is a long shot but he looks like a very reasonable lottery ticket.

 

I agree that Benning is having a good draft. I am feeling much better about this year's draft now than I was last night.

 

But I am now thinking even more strongly than before that Benning should not have traded away picks in earlier years. I am happy with the Baertschi trade for a second round pick of course, but I regret throwing in picks on the trades for Sutter and Gudbranson (and still don't like those trades overall but will see happens this year). And I regret the picks traded for Vey and Dorsett. I would have preferred to see Benning acquire a couple of extra picks instead. By now we could have some other very good prospects in the system if Benning had kept those picks and acquired some others.So I think the rebuild was delayed but this draft should help the prospect pipeline quite a lot. 

Yup, in the article I quoted above it's noted if he was 6'2" his skillset is good enough that he'd be a 1st round pick. 5'10" though and he's in the 4th round.

 

As far as the picks, I don't mind us getting players who are ready now at all. I do mind when we trade someone who also was ready then add to get someone else who's ready, but I think those will help us longer term. Bonino I would have liked to keep in part because he was the one player apart from the Sedins who worked well with Vrbata, but I have no issues with Guddy coming in despite concerns over his offensive output). The ones that didn't work out hurt in hindsight, but you've got to break a few eggs to make an omelette.

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37 minutes ago, Rob_Zepp said:

This is Stecher version 2.0.     Stecher went undrafted as NHL was in denial about size issues changing in faster game today.   This pick doesn't bode well for Subban necessarily however.  

Stetcher is definitely who came to mind for me as well.  So far haven't been disappointed with his play.

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