John Moore (ice hockey)

Playing career

John Moore got his start in the 2003 Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament, where he suited up for the Chicago Young Americans minor ice hockey team. After that, he played in the Winnetka Minor Mite House League before moving on to the Winnetka Hockey travel program. While a junior at New Trier High School in 2007, Moore joined the Chicago Steel of the United States Hockey League for the 2007–08 season. Over 56 games, he notched four goals and 15 points, and added two assists in seven playoff contests. The following season, he returned to the Steel and saw a big jump in production, putting up 14 goals and 39 points in 57 games, though the team missed the playoffs. Heading into the 2009 NHL entry draft, Moore was ranked as the sixth-best North American skater and the top North American defenseman available.

The Kitchener Rangers picked him in the second round of the 2009 OHL Priority Draft, and the Columbus Blue Jackets selected him 21st overall in the first round of the 2009 NHL entry draft. Before his first OHL season, Moore signed a three-year entry-level contract with the Blue Jackets on July 21, 2009. In his rookie year with Kitchener in 2009–10, he recorded 10 goals and 47 points in 61 games, then followed that up with 16 points in 20 playoff games as the Rangers fell to the Windsor Spitfires in the Western Conference Finals.

After his rookie NHL season with Columbus, Moore was sent down to start the 2010–11 campaign with the Blue Jackets’ AHL affiliate, the Springfield Falcons. Following 47 games there, he got called up and made his NHL debut on February 5, 2011, in a 4–3 win over the Edmonton Oilers. His first NHL goal came on October 25, 2011, against Detroit Red Wings goaltender Ty Conklin.

During the lockout-shortened 2012–13 season, Moore was part of a trade deadline deal on April 3, 2013. The Blue Jackets sent Derick Brassard, Derek Dorsett, Moore, and a sixth-round draft pick to the New York Rangers in exchange for Marián Gáborík, Blake Parlett, and Steven Delisle. Just three hours after the trade, Moore suited up for the Rangers and scored his first goal of the season in a 6–1 victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins.