Jump to content
The Official Site of the Vancouver Canucks
Canucks Community

Jack Rathbone | #3 | D


Recommended Posts

  • 3 weeks later...

Rathbone has confidence, but does he have the skills to start for Canucks?

 

Skill can get you to the NHL, but it’s the confidence you have in those skills that usually keeps a player in The Show.

 

And when it comes to confidence, there’s no denying that 21-year-old Jack Rathbone has it. If he sticks in the NHL after his first Canucks’ training camp, or he ends starting the year as a minor-leaguer, nothing seems likely to faze the defenceman.

 

The former Harvard man admitted during a media Zoom session this week that he’s “a confident kid.”

 

“I’m a confident guy,” he said when asked about identifying moments of successes he’s had, two days into his first full NHL camp.

 

Usually we dial in on the things players know they need to improve, but in this case it was an intriguing query and one that brought out a self-aware answer.

 

And it wasn’t about being cocky, it was simply about knowing that to be the best, you have to believe you can do it. Rathbone said he realized that even before he arrived in Vancouver and skated with his new teammates: after signing with the Canucks, foregoing what could have been two more seasons of NCAA hockey, or even the option of becoming a free agent next summer, he got right to work in his preparations.

 

“All summer I was training with some pretty high-end talent guys,” he said. “And there were moments where you’re like ‘hey, you know, you made the right decision in terms of turning pro.'”

 

That said, he also knows he has work to do. His skating has carried him this far, but his strength still needs improving. He’s found himself up in practices against the likes of Elias Pettersson, J.T. Miller and Brock Boeser — he singled out the Lotto Line as his exemplars — and knows those three are as tough as the opposition can be for an NHL defenceman.

 

“I think my dad’s always said you work to try and always play at the next level. And the next level is here, like this is this is it,” he said.

 

“You want to eventually make a long career out of it but in order to do so you’ve got to be able to compete with that size and that speed and, I think, with my feet and my ability to skate I think that’ll come.

 

“I think a lot of it is just dealing with guys who are bigger and stronger and me not being the biggest guy. A lot of it is positioning and trying to come to the rink and learn as much as possible so that learning curve and those growing pains are out of the system as soon as possible and I can just go back to playing my game.”

 

The question then is can he stick as one of the Canucks’ seven or eight defencemen on the 23-man roster? Or should he go to the six-man practice squad? Or perhaps just spend a whole season with the Utica Comets, who are hoping to hit the ice a month from now?

 

The answer isn’t easy. Rathbone just wants to make it a difficult decision for head coach Travis Green and general manager Jim Benning.

 

The looming addition of Travis Hamonic means that Rathbone is almost certainly in a battle for the eighth spot on the depth chart, along with the likes of Jalen Chatfield, Brogan Rafferty, Ashton Sautner and Guillaume Briseboise, all of whom have plenty of pro hockey experience already under their belts.

 

All would be easy selections for the practice squad — players who are considered in the minors but allowed to stay in Vancouver and travel with the NHL roster, ready to be recalled when needed without quarantining — but keeping Rathbone around NHLers strictly for development purposes, at least to start, has some obvious appeal.

 

Asked before camp started, Benning insisted it would always come down to how the players performed during the condensed training camp at Rogers Arena.

 

“Ultimately it’s going to be the players who come in and perform and deserve to be here,” Benning said. “That’s one thing about Travis he believes and if you earn a spot on the team and if you earn the right to play, you know, then the player should be here and you should be playing so we’ve done that in the past. We’re going to continue to do that so it’s going to be up to see how the players perform and they’ll make the decisions for us.”

 

Green acknowledged the shorter camp was going to make it difficult to shake things out, but given how much of a book the coaches already have on the other defencemen in the discussion, you also have to figure it’s going to come down to a handful of little questions to determine what the next step will be.

 

“We don’t have a lot of time but we’re gonna have to really watch all our players to figure out what’s best for them, but also what’s best for us,” he said.

  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 1/10/2021 at 9:14 PM, Ray_Cathode said:

Rathbone has been very impressive this camp, but so have @ number of other Canuck prospects: Juolevi, Brisebois, Rafferty, Woo, Sautner, and Chatfield. The last intersquad illustrated how mobile Woo and Brisebois are, and they aren’t even the prospects known for their skating. If Tryamkin also shows up there will be quite the crowd to choose from.

And these are all Judd Bracket picks ?

:ph34r:

  • Haha 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 weeks later...
2 hours ago, wildcam said:

There all Jim Bennings draft picks...Final say and much more experience then Bracket....Bracket was part time scout 2014....Say no more..

You do realize I was being sarcastic I hope..

I for one think that whole bracket thingy was media over hype , intended to get in the craw of Benning.

 

  • Cheers 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Wouldn't hurt to give Rathbone a shot since the Canucks are almost out of the playoff picture. 

 

If they lose all 4 games against Calgary, they are sure to be out of the playoffs. It would be impossible to make ground given where they'll be at. 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 2/6/2021 at 8:44 AM, Dannydog said:

Is jack on the Taxi Squad? 

 

Yes Jack has been on the Taxi Squad since camp ended. Would be nice to see him get into a game since they haven't had a whole lot of practice time playing every other day, or 4 games in 6...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Just now, aGENT said:

Jack should be playing on the Moose IMO...

Maybe they have a plan where they feel he's learning a lot from being with and around the team, but I agree that he needs to play and that it would really make sense for him to go down in a prominent role, maybe to return later during the season.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 minutes ago, J-P said:

Maybe they have a plan where they feel he's learning a lot from being with and around the team, but I agree that he needs to play and that it would really make sense for him to go down in a prominent role, maybe to return later during the season.

Yes I agree practising with NHL players is very good for him but now the AHL season has started they need him to start playing soon....

They must have a good plan in place for Rathbone..We have to understand they can't send him down 14 day quarantine to bring him back...

Maybe Moose would work better...

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

9 minutes ago, J-P said:

Maybe they have a plan where they feel he's learning a lot from being with and around the team, but I agree that he needs to play and that it would really make sense for him to go down in a prominent role, maybe to return later during the season.

If they can send him down to Winnipeg without the need to quartine a couple of games would help him and hopefullu allow scouts to watch for progress

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Just now, Kootenay Gold said:

I agree Agent but he isn't, so getting him for a game or two with the Canucks may be the next best option.

I don't think he's ready personally. Absolutely stellar future ahead of him, but not there yet.

 

He also doesn't need to be thrown in to a lineup struggling to get it's footing. They need stability before they start randomly swapping in/out peripheral pieces. Which would put him in a position that does him no favours either.

 

IMO it should simply be Moose.

  • Upvote 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Please sign in to comment

You will be able to leave a comment after signing in



Sign In Now
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...