Jack Rathbone

Jack Rathbone (born May 20, 1999) is an American professional ice hockey defenseman for the Rochester Americans of the American Hockey League (AHL) while under contract to the Buffalo Sabres of the National Hockey League (NHL). Rathbone was drafted 95th overall in the 2017 NHL entry draft by the Vancouver Canucks, with whom he began his NHL career.

Early life Rathbone was born in West Roxbury, Massachusetts 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 fan. 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 ice hockey with the Harvard Crimson in 2015

Throughout the 2016–17 season, Rathbone split his time between the Whalers, Dexter, and Youngstown Phantoms 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 in their final ranking of North American skaters. Prior to graduating, Rathbone was drafted 95th overall in the 2017 NHL entry draft by the Vancouver Canucks.

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 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. 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. 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 to the Pittsburgh Penguins, 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, 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 Regular season Playoffs Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM 2014–15 Dexter Southfield School USHS 31 3 4 7 — — — — — — 2015–16 Dexter Southfield School USHS 29 11 15 26 — — — — — — 2016–17 Dexter Southfield School USHS 22 16 19 35 — — — — — — 2016–17 Youngstown Phantoms USHL 4 0 1 1 0 — — — — — 2017–18 Dexter Southfield School USHS 17 11 19 30 — — — — — — 2018–19 Harvard University ECAC 33 7 15 22 8 — — — — — 2019–20 Harvard University ECAC 28 7 24 31 16 — — — — — 2020–21 Utica Comets AHL 8 2 7 9 2 — — — — — 2020–21 Vancouver Canucks NHL 8 1 2 3 0 — — — — — 2021–22 Vancouver Canucks NHL 9 0 0 0 2 — — — — — 2021–22 Abbotsford Canucks AHL 39 10 30 40 15 2 0 1 1 0 2022–23 Vancouver Canucks NHL 11 1 1 2 2 — — — — — 2022–23 Abbotsford Canucks AHL 37 5 9 14 12 6 2 1 3 4 2023–24 Abbotsford Canucks AHL 2 1 0 1 2 — — — — — 2023–24 Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins AHL 67 8 16 24 21 2 1 1 2 0 2024–25 Rochester Americans AHL 63 6 17 23 51 8 0 3 3 8 2025–26 Rochester Americans AHL 49 5 13 18 26 3 0 0 0 4 NHL totals 28 2 3 5 4 — — — — —

Awards and honors Award YearUSHS (East) All-New England First Team 2017 All-USA Hockey First Team 2017 All-USA Hockey Second Team 2018College ECAC All-Rookie Team 2019 ECAC First All-Star Team 2020 All-Ivy League First Team 2020 New England D1 All-Stars 2020 East First All-American Team 2020 All-USCHO Second Team 2020 AHL All-Rookie Team 2022