Bothwell played for the New York Rangers, St. Louis Blues, and Hartford Whalers, and several AHL teams.

Before his professional career, he played at Brown, where he was a three-time All-Ivy League defenceman, member of the Bruins' 1975-76 NCAA semi-finalists, and captain of the team the next two seasons.

Following his retirement from play, he accepted the head coaching position with the Medicine Hat Tigers in the Western Hockey League (WHL) and lead the team during the 1990–91 and 1991–92 seasons.

He ultimately left Calgary to take on the role of assistant coach with the NHL's Atlanta Thrashers, which he held for two seasons, 2001–02 and 2002–03.

[3] Bothwell was the head coach of the 2014–15 Midget AAA boys team at Edge School in Calgary, Alberta, Canada.