There are no do-overs in professional sports. If there were, Vermette would surely be drafted higher in the 2000 NHL Draft, where the Ottawa Senators selected him in the second round (No. 55).

Speedy and tenacious, Vermette is a reliable two-way forward who can slide into any role from top-line forward to checking-line pest. Hardly imposing at 6-foot-1 and 198 pounds, Vermette still delivers hits and blocks shots. Yet he has remained durable, playing 482 consecutive games from 2009-15.

Vermette made his NHL debut at age 21 on Oct. 9, 2003, in Ottawa's season opener against the Montreal Canadiens. He got his first NHL point with an assist on Oct. 18, 2003, against the San Jose Sharks, and scored his first League goal, into an empty net, in his 20th NHL game, on Dec. 4, 2003, against the Tampa Bay Lightning.

It would take until Dec. 22, 2003 for Vermette to beat an NHL goalie when he scored on Roberto Luongo of the Florida Panthers. Vermette made his Stanley Cup Playoff debut as a rookie, appearing in four of Ottawa's seven games in the 2004 playoffs.

After spending the 2004-05 season in the American Hockey League during the NHL lockout, Vermette finished fourth on the Senators with 21 goals in 2005-06. He had six shorthanded goals, ranking second in the NHL. Vermette scored his first two NHL postseason goals in Game 3 of Ottawa's first-round series against the Lightning in 2006. Ottawa's faceoff percentage leader (53%) in 2006-07, Vermette reached his first Stanley Cup Final that season.

Vermette moved to the Columbus Blue Jackets and then to the then-Phoenix Coyotes, where he was team MVP in 2013-14 before being traded to the eventual champion Chicago Blackhawks on Feb. 28, 2015. Vermette scored three game-winning goals in the 2015 postseason, including two in the Stanley Cup Final.

He re-signed with the Coyotes following the Cup win, but they bought out the final year of his contract on Aug. 1, 2016, and he signed with the Anaheim Ducks on Aug. 15, 2016.