6th year defenseman Mike Vernace(48) has been on quite the ride through the AHL this season as he was traded twice and is currently playing for his third team in the 2011/2012 season.
Ironically all three teams he skated for are still in the postseason.
He started the year with Norfolk Admirals, the team he’d been with for the entirety of 2010/2011 and even got into 10 games with the parent club Tampa Bay Lightning.
From there he was dished to Florida Panthers but skated only with San Antonio Rampage.
That relationship lasted only 22 games before he was once again passed along to New York Rangers in a trade deadline deal and reassigned to Connecticut Whale, where he’ll play his former team, the Admirals in the AHL Eastern Conference Semi-Finals in a best-of-seven series.
Originally a San Jose Sharks‘ 7th round pick in the 2004 draft (#201 overall), the 6’ 216 lbs. blue liner has only appeared in 22 NHL games throughout his playing career.
It’s a bit doubtful that he’ll crack New York Rangers‘ lineup next fall or if they’ll even sign him up for another year, as he’ll be a UFA at the conclusion of the playoff run.
We still think he’s got plenty of pop to crack a big league lineup.
