Penguins A to Z: A change of scenery helped Jack Rathbone but he’ll likely need another
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With the Pittsburgh Penguins’ 2023-24 season coming to an end without any postseason action, TribLive will offer Penguins A to Z, a player-by-player look at all 52 individuals signed to an NHL contract — including those whose deals do not begin until next season — with the organization, from fourth-line center Noel Acciari to reserve winger Radim Zohorna.
This series is scheduled to be published every weekday leading into the second day of the NHL Draft on June 29.
(Note: All contract information courtesy of Cap Friendly.)
Jack Rathbone
Position: Defenseman
Shoots: Left
Age: 25
Height: 5-foot-11
Weight: 182 pounds
2023-24 AHL statistics: 69 games, 25 points (nine goals, 16 assists)
2023-24 AHL postseason statistics: Two games, one point (zero goals, one assist)
Contract: In the second year of a two-year contract with a salary cap hit of $850,000. Pending unrestricted free agent this upcoming offseason.
Acquired: Trade, Oct. 17, 2023
This season: A common issue the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins had to work around throughout the 2023-24 season was the American Hockey League’s so-called “veteran rule” which limits the number of veterans — as deemed by service time per that league’s guidelines — who can dress in any lineup.
In October, that impediment prompted Pittsburgh Penguins management to deal away spare defenseman Mark Friedman — a veteran by the AHL’s standards — to the Canucks via a multi-player trade that brought defensive prospect Jack Rathbone to Northeast Pennsylvania.
A fourth-round draft pick (No. 95 overall) in 2017 by the Vancouver Canucks, Rathbone’s development as a potential NHLer stalled out with that organization after appearing in 11 NHL contests during the 2022-23 campaign.
A cliched change of scenery did him some good, at least in terms of his playing time and contributions as an AHLer.
Debuting with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton on Oct. 20, Rathbone was nearly a constant in the lineup, appearing in 67 of the team’s final 70 games of the regular season.
Primarily deployed on the second or third pairings (and occasionally on the right side or as a seventh defenseman) for most of the season, Rathbone posted 24 points (eight goals, 16 assists) in the 67 games he played for Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. Despite somewhat limited deployment, he still managed to score a team-leading four game-winning goals.
RATHBONE CALLED GAME pic.twitter.com/7hmyy022MI
— Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (@WBSPenguins) December 2, 2023
Rathbone did enjoy something of a surge in the final weeks of the regular season when top defenseman Ty Smith was lost for the season April 7 due to an undisclosed injury. With a more prominent role on the power play, Rathbone had six points (two goals, four assists) in his final six games and helped secure a playoff berth.
Bones puts us on the board! pic.twitter.com/qbYwwQpo3C
— Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (@WBSPenguins) April 20, 2024
In the postseason, Rathbone was limited to a single assist in two games.
The future: Rathbone seemed to gain some traction in his development once he joined the Penguins, but it wasn’t substantial enough to make him a serious consideration to be promoted to the NHL roster in the immediate future.
And when the logjam of established left-handed defensemen already in place is measured along with the presumably increased presences of southpaw blue line prospects such as Isaac Belliveau, Filip Kral, Owen Pickering and Emil Pieniniemi, it just doesn’t look like there’s a place for Rathbone moving forward as he approaches unrestricted free agency.
A change of scenery helped Rathbone, but he’ll likely need another if he hopes to reach the NHL again.