Jack Rathbone | #3 | D

[Fred65]

1 hour ago, Googlie said:

The smartest thing Juolevi could do right now is to practice being a right D at every opportunity.  For the next few years the left will be pretty clogged with OEL, Huggy and Bones.  OJ might start the season as 3rd left D, but won't finish it there.  Rathbone will.

I don't know if that will happen but he's in tough. Personally I believe Rathbone has surpassed him. I'm waiting to see what his new contract will be, the sum of money committed is a yard stick of where he fits as a NHL D'man. OEL get's his $8.25 ( total ) and Hughes has to be around $6-7 mark. Juolevi will be paid ...... ???? and that will be the teller

[tas]

1 hour ago, Googlie said:

The smartest thing Juolevi could do right now is to practice being a right D at every opportunity.  For the next few years the left will be pretty clogged with OEL, Huggy and Bones.  OJ might start the season as 3rd left D, but won't finish it there.  Rathbone will.

he can practice all he wants there, but green and his staff won't be playing him there. 

[Dazzle]

26 minutes ago, tas said:

he can practice all he wants there, but green and his staff won't be playing him there. 

I think since there is a veteran Brad Shaw there, he's going to have a significant voice to help Green out. I'm sure Shaw's expertise with defense will help Juolevi's game out.

[tas]

8 minutes ago, Dazzle said:

I think since there is a veteran Brad Shaw there, he's going to have a significant voice to help Green out. I'm sure Shaw's expertise with defense will help Juolevi's game out.

... sure, but that likely won't include focusing on playing the right side. 

[kenhodgejr]

i think Rathbones puck moving and offence will really help us this season

[cripplereh]

everyone who played with, or coached him thinks he will stick on the team and who knows maybe make a top 4 spot

[CRAZY_4_NAZZY]

Considering Hughes and OEL will likely log most of the offensive minutes whether on the PP, late moments of the game to tie things up if we are down, and majority of the offensive zone starts, it makes me wonder where exactly Rathbone's style of game fits in here. 

 

I really do think Rathbone will have to add a two way defensive side to his game. I think he has the skills and humility to evolve his game to encompass those aspects.

 

With that as much as he showed well in his 8 game stint, part of me feels that he will start in Abbotsford to log high minutes in all areas of the game. I think he will benefit as he would surely be Abbotsford's top dman.

[filthycanuck]

On 8/6/2021 at 12:43 AM, CRAZY_4_NAZZY said:

Considering Hughes and OEL will likely log most of the offensive minutes whether on the PP, late moments of the game to tie things up if we are down, and majority of the offensive zone starts, it makes me wonder where exactly Rathbone's style of game fits in here. 

 

I really do think Rathbone will have to add a two way defensive side to his game. I think he has the skills and humility to evolve his game to encompass those aspects.

 

With that as much as he showed well in his 8 game stint, part of me feels that he will start in Abbotsford to log high minutes in all areas of the game. I think he will benefit as he would surely be Abbotsford's top dman.

I agree, he should start in Abby. To go from college, to taxi squad, AHL to NHL in a span of a year, thats way too big of a jump. Let him get major minutes in Abby, be the marquee guy fans are gonna be shelling out money for. People are so enamoured by Rathbones upside that a lot of CDCers think hes automatically going to make it to the roster. If you put Rathbone and Juolevi's games side by side, Juolevi had the better season.

[tas]

10 hours ago, filthycanuck said:

I agree, he should start in Abby. To go from college, to taxi squad, AHL to NHL in a span of a year, thats way too big of a jump. Let him get major minutes in Abby, be the marquee guy fans are gonna be shelling out money for. People are so enamoured by Rathbones upside that a lot of CDCers think hes automatically going to make it to the roster. If you put Rathbone and Juolevi's games side by side, Juolevi had the better season.

or let his play at camp and the experts who run the team make the decision. 

 

as always under this regime, if he plays his way onto the team at camp, he'll be on the team. benning and green don't feel the need to overcook players, they let the players' performance decide their development path. 

[Nucksownyou]

I'd rather see Rathbone in the AHL playing big minutes with Woo. They made a great pair last season. Plus, with our farm team now close by in Abbotsford, sending him down seems like a no-brainer to me.

[Alflives]

7 minutes ago, Nucksownyou said:

I'd rather see Rathbone in the AHL playing big minutes with Woo. They made a great pair last season. Plus, with our farm team now close by in Abbotsford, sending him down seems like a no-brainer to me.

Totally agree.  Bone is clearly a really good player.  But he’s still really young, and developing.  Yes, he’s our third best left shot D, but OJ can play that role and develop on the big club.  Bone, like you say, will get number one left shot duties in Abby.  At the end of this season Bone will be have improved more doing the Abby way, with some NHL games sprinkled in.  

[Father Ryan]

On 8/6/2021 at 2:43 AM, CRAZY_4_NAZZY said:

Considering Hughes and OEL will likely log most of the offensive minutes whether on the PP, late moments of the game to tie things up if we are down, and majority of the offensive zone starts, it makes me wonder where exactly Rathbone's style of game fits in here. 

 

I really do think Rathbone will have to add a two way defensive side to his game. I think he has the skills and humility to evolve his game to encompass those aspects.

 

With that as much as he showed well in his 8 game stint, part of me feels that he will start in Abbotsford to log high minutes in all areas of the game. I think he will benefit as he would surely be Abbotsford's top dman.

This is exactly what I think would be best for his progression. He needs to play big minutes, and be a top QB on the power play. The best option for that will be Abbotsford. With the farm team that close, Shaw can much more easily monitor the farm team D progress. OJ is likely to never be a top 2, and maybe not a top 4 on a true contending team. But develop him for the year in Van, and see if he has value at the trade deadline. Of course, this only happens if we sign him. Rathbone, given a year of big minutes, can maybe come in next year and be able to take a minute or two off the workload of Hughes and OEL, making the D that much deeper. 

 

[48MPHSlapShot]

8 hours ago, tas said:

or let his play at camp and the experts who run the team make the decision. 

 

as always under this regime, if he plays his way onto the team at camp, he'll be on the team. benning and green don't feel the need to overcook players, they let the players' performance decide their development path. 

Agreed. At the end of the day, whoever wins the spot in training camp should get the spot. Green has generally been pretty good at assigning roster spots based on merit.

 

At the end of the day the player that gets the spot will be the one who performed better in training camp.

[filthycanuck]

10 hours ago, Father Ryan said:

This is exactly what I think would be best for his progression. He needs to play big minutes, and be a top QB on the power play. The best option for that will be Abbotsford. With the farm team that close, Shaw can much more easily monitor the farm team D progress. OJ is likely to never be a top 2, and maybe not a top 4 on a true contending team. But develop him for the year in Van, and see if he has value at the trade deadline. Of course, this only happens if we sign him. Rathbone, given a year of big minutes, can maybe come in next year and be able to take a minute or two off the workload of Hughes and OEL, making the D that much deeper. 

 

Yup, I'll add to that to. Why not see if Rathbone can kill penalties? No harm doing that in Abby. Regardless, the fact that Rathbone only had what? less than 20 games last year (AHL/NHL) he needs experience. Just let him and Woo be the studs on the blueline in all situations

[SID.IS.SID.ME.IS.ME]

14 minutes ago, filthycanuck said:

Yup, I'll add to that to. Why not see if Rathbone can kill penalties? No harm doing that in Abby. Regardless, the fact that Rathbone only had what? less than 20 games last year (AHL/NHL) he needs experience. Just let him and Woo be the studs on the blueline in all situations

I think that’s an important point, if he’s in Abbotsford.

 

Rathbone has the potential to be an all situations Dman. Of course, his strengths are always going to be on the offensive side of the game, but I think his defensive game could be developed into something that translates well to the NHL, as a two-way D who can be trusted with starts in 3 zones, can play both PP and PK, and even handle some matchup duties.

 

I really like his toolkit and think he actually has some very good defensive instincts that could blossom under the right coaching and given the minutes and leeway to try and fail and eventually succeed.
 

He’s also much stronger and physical than he’s given credit. So while he’s a smaller Dman, I think he can actually play a pretty aggressive and “rugged” game in the defensive zone. I’ve seen him handle much larger opponents at lower levels, and been able to use his body to control, move, and contain players in the key areas of his own zone.
 

And just given the makeup of our NHL D corps, with Hughes and now OEL, that final LHD spot is probably going to need to go to a guy who can handle some PK duties, defensive starts at 5v5, and even some shutdown/matchup work. So it’s a really good idea for Rathbone to commit to doing whatever he can this season to prove himself as a player Green will eventually trust in some of those roles.

 

Rathbone’s high end skating, puckmoving, hockey IQ, and shot should be enough to earn him a regular NHL lineup spot (eventually), as an offensive/puckmoving 3rd pairing D and 2PP option. But if he can also demonstrate real NHL caliber defensive value, I think he could become a legitimate top-4, all situations, two-way D, with a long and successful career in the NHL.

[aGENT]

18 hours ago, 48MPHSlapShot said:

Agreed. At the end of the day, whoever wins the spot in training camp should get the spot. Green has generally been pretty good at assigning roster spots based on merit.

 

At the end of the day the player that gets the spot will be the one who performed better in training camp.

With the caveat that 'better' is subjective and can depend on a lot of other factors.

 

I have little doubt that Rathbone is definitely the more exciting and dynamic player of the two. He'll likely put up more offense in the preseason as well. I'm sure that will have a lot of fans and media shrieking about his 'better-ness'.

 

However, I also have little doubt that at this point, Juolevi is better defensively and the better option to play a secondary PK role. As @SID.IS.SID.ME.IS.ME eluded to, that likely may be an important requirement for coaching staff when selecting who makes the final roster given the makeup of the rest of our D.

 

[48MPHSlapShot]

7 minutes ago, aGENT said:

With the caveat that 'better' is subjective and can depend on a lot of other factors.

 

I have little doubt that Rathbone is definitely the more exciting and dynamic player of the two. He'll likely put up more offense in the preseason as well. I'm sure that will have a lot of fans and media shrieking about his 'better-ness'.

 

However, I also have little doubt that at this point, Juolevi is better defensively and the better option to play a secondary PK role. As @SID.IS.SID.ME.IS.ME eluded to, that likely may be an important requirement for coaching staff when selecting who makes the final roster given the makeup of the rest of our D.

 

 

So if Green were to decide that Rathbone was a better fit for the current roster, you'd be OK with it?

[aGENT]

1 minute ago, 48MPHSlapShot said:

So if Green were to decide that Rathbone was a better fit for the current roster, you'd be OK with it?

I'd be thrilled, I have him as a prospect in my fantasy league 

[elvis15]

5 hours ago, aGENT said:

With the caveat that 'better' is subjective and can depend on a lot of other factors.

 

I have little doubt that Rathbone is definitely the more exciting and dynamic player of the two. He'll likely put up more offense in the preseason as well. I'm sure that will have a lot of fans and media shrieking about his 'better-ness'.

 

However, I also have little doubt that at this point, Juolevi is better defensively and the better option to play a secondary PK role. As @SID.IS.SID.ME.IS.ME eluded to, that likely may be an important requirement for coaching staff when selecting who makes the final roster given the makeup of the rest of our D.

This is especially true when for Rathbone to succeed he'll need the kind of minutes that best use his skills. With Hughes at least and OEL ahead of him for those type of minutes, and that we can't just keep him on the bench until those minutes present themselves in a game. PP is the obvious answer, but 2nd unit. He'll get time 5 on 5, but what kind of zone starts can we give him and still share with the others? PK is very unlikely.

 

It's possible he fits over Juolevi, but the team has requirements it must fill as you say.

[kloubek]

Just remember - Gaudette also played so well at camp, he forced his way into the (not exactly talented) lineup and Green couldn't say no. Not long after, he's traded for a fringe NHLer.

 

The safe move is to keep Rathbone down to develop and hopefully Juolevi can show well enough at camp and preseason to make that decision easier. I really want to see a hungry Juolevi. This is his time to prove the patience was worth it - and hopefully prove my skepticism wrong in the process.