How seeing Quinn Hughes’ playoff success with the Canucks gave Jack Rathbone confidence, and why he could make the team out of camp

Jack Rathbone has serious potential to surprise a lot of people when he enters his first training camp with the Vancouver Canucks in roughly one month’s time.

The former Harvard defenceman arrived in Vancouver last week and is currently completing his two-week quarantine. “I’m solo right now in a one-bedroom apartment,” said Rathbone, who signed his entry-level contract during July’s training camp. “Little bit of gym equipment so that I can try and stay in shape because obviously, I’m not going to be on the ice. That’s unfortunate, but being able to stay in shape with a little bit of TV and Xbox, it’s been good.”

Rathbone has been described numerous times as an elite skater, and plays a similar style to Quinn Hughes in that he’s quick on his feet, smaller in stature, and is a legitimate threat to absolutely hammer the puck from the blue line at any given moment. Additionally, both defencemen know how to use their skating ability to open up space and scoring opportunities for their teammates.

Over his extended break from college hockey due to COVID-19, Rathbone was able to take in plenty of bubble hockey and saw first-hand the trust his new head coach Travis Green showed in the young Hughes when the Canucks desperately needed to shut down St. Louis Blues forward Ryan O’Reilly during round one of the playoffs.

“It was pretty cool to see what Quinn did not only in the regular season, but obviously in the playoffs, and definitely gave me confidence knowing I’m pretty similar in stature, and I’m going to rely on my skating ability a lot in terms of my defensive play, whether that’s trying to keep a good gap or positioning wise in the defensive zone,” said Rathbone. “It definitely gave me confidence, but I mean, obviously, I’m my own player, so I got to go out and prove myself and try and develop and learn as much as possible, but it’s generally fun to play with such an exciting young group here.”

Rathbone is hopeful that his style will benefit him in standing out at training camp and succeeding in the modern-day NHL.

“It’s going to be pretty fast-paced and up-tempo,” said Rathbone. “I think with my skating ability and ability to make plays, I think I should be able to hopefully go out there and put my best foot forward and have a good camp. The game’s trending in that way, where it’s a lot of get up and go, a lot of transition hockey, so I’m excited to kind of get going here.”

If the Canucks elect to spread Hughes, Schmidt, and Rathbone out among their three defence pairings, they will always have an elite puck-mover on the ice at 5 on 5, which is something that could intrigue the Canucks’ coaching staff enough to pencil Rathbone into the lineup on opening night.

You may now be scratching your head wondering why Rathbone was even available to the Canucks in the fourth round, because it certainly wasn’t due to a lack of talent.

It’s been well-documented that a huge reason Rathbone was drafted where he was was due to his decision to stay and play an extra year of high school hockey to be closer to his brother Teddy, who has autism.

This worried many teams, but not the Canucks, who showed support in Rathbone’s decision the whole way through, which ended up being a key factor in why he chose to sign with the club instead of going the college free agent route.

“I really respect them for looking past that,” Rathbone told EliteProspects. “There were definitely teams that, when I sat in those meetings, weren’t too excited about the decision that I was making. So I think from a personal standpoint, those guys have helped me immensely in terms of growing as a player and in my development. I think going through that process and being able to hear a voice that wasn’t too concerned with where you were playing next year was something where there was a comfort level there that I was like ‘you know, what they believe in me, they believe that no matter where I’m playing, that you’re going to be able to develop,’ and that’s huge in terms of being able to grow as a player and not almost second guess myself as to whether like, what if I did this? What if I did that? They were all good with the decision that I was making. They were backing me in terms of whatever I thought me and my family had to do that year. And it was definitely the right choice.”

The young defenceman is now all-in on chasing his dream of playing in the NHL, even if it means leaving home in the middle of a pandemic to go to a city he’s not yet familiar with.

“I mean, it’s tough. I think, you know, with Christmas coming up and everything,” said the 21-year-old defenceman. “It’s my favourite holiday, it’s something you get used to, seeing family and friends and being able to open presents Christmas morning surrounded by my brother, sister and my family, it’s great. It’s the best memories I think you get to have all year but I mean, my dream is to play in the NHL. And I mean, things are starting to ramp up and get pretty real here. So I think I’ll definitely I’ll miss them, but I’ll definitely be excited here to get camp going hopefully sooner, rather than later.”

He admits that it’s hard not to follow the events of the offseason and see that there’s a spot that needs filling on the Canucks’ bottom pairing, but recognizes that it’s up to him to go earn that spot.

“It’s kind of hard not to, especially with the media coverage out here,” said Rathbone. “In the Canadian market, it’s pretty specific in terms of, you’re seeing everything firsthand whether it’s on social media or on NHL network. So it’s definitely hard not to but I think a big thing for me, especially this offseason, with it being my first year pro is to just put my head down and work just because I know at the end of the day, it’s me that has got to go out there and earn that spot. So whether it was in the gym this summer or on the ice, I kind of tried to keep my head kind of in between the glass and in the gym. Just to try and develop myself from an individual standpoint.”