Tripp was originally drafted by the Colorado Avalanche in the third round, 77th overall, in the 1995 NHL Entry Draft. He re-entered the draft two years later and was drafted by the Calgary Flames
in the second round, 42nd overall. Despite being drafted by two
different teams, both times fairly high in the draft selection, he would
not see NHL level playing time until the 2002–03 season when he played nine games for the New York Rangers. The next season, 2003–04, Tripp played 34 games for the Los Angeles Kings.
In 2004, during the NHL lockout, Tripp moved to the Deutsche Eishockey Liga in Germany for Adler Mannheim. In 2006, he moved to ERC Ingolstadt before moving to Hamburg in 2007.
In this time Tripp was able to obtain German citizenship and represent Germany.
After three seasons with the Freezers, Tripp left and signed an initial try-out contract with fellow German based club, the
Hannover Scorpions on September 22, 2010.
After three weeks John was released by the Scorpions but immediately
signed a one-year contract for the remainder of the 2010–11 season with
Kölner Haie on October 19, 2010.