Amateur As a youth, Traverse played in the 1988
Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament with a
minor ice hockey team from
Hochelaga-Maisonneuve. He played with the Montreal-Bourassa Canadiens, a AAA minor hockey team, in 1990–91, earning the
Guy Lafleur Award of Excellence, which celebrates the combination of academic excellence and sports. Traverse was selected by the
Shawinigan Cataractes of the
Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL) in the 1991 QMJHL entry draft in the first round, fourth overall. He joined the Cataractes for the
1991–92 season and recorded three
goals and 11
assists for 14
points in 59 games. The Cataractes qualified for the playoffs and advanced to the division finals where they were eliminated. Traverse appeared in ten playoff games, going scoreless. Traverse made 15 regular season appearances for the Lynx, scoring one goal and seven points. In his first full season with Saint-Jean in
1993–94, Traverse marked 15 goals and 52 points in 66 games. The Lynx were eliminated and Traverse made five playoff appearances, recording four assists. By the end of April 1992, he was rated as the 18th best North American player available in the draft, and was considered a possibility to go in the first round. Ultimately, Traverse was selected by the
Ottawa Senators in the third round, 50th overall, in the entry draft, and the second player from the QMJHL. After his junior team was eliminated, Traverse joined Ottawa's
American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate, the
New Haven Senators, for the final two games of the
1992–93 season, going scoreless. For the second year, after his junior team had been eliminated from the playoffs in April 1994, he was assigned to Ottawa's AHL affiliate, the
Prince Edward Island Senators, for the remainder of the
1993–94 season. He played in three games in the AHL, recording one assist. He attended the Senators 1994 training camp, but faced strong competition as general manager
Randy Sexton had brought in veteran defencemen, including
Jim Paek,
Chris Dahlquist and
Sean Hill and prospects such as
Radim Bičánek and
Stanislav Neckář in an effort to improve Ottawa's defence. However, he was assigned to Prince Edward Island in September, with Sexton and head coach
Rick Bowness agreeing that Traverse needed more development. He spent the entire
1994–95 season in the AHL, tallying five goals and 18 points in 70 games. In October he suffered a broken thumb, causing him to miss time. After returning from the injury, he was recalled by Ottawa on December 29, 1995 and made his NHL debut in the
1995–96 season in a 4–1 loss to the
Montreal Canadiens on December 30. He appeared in five games, going scoreless, before being returned to the AHL at the NHL's all-star break on January 18. During the five games, he was routinely played with other inexperienced defencemen such as Neckář,
Jaroslav Modrý, and
Dennis Vial, as the Senators went through an injury crisis among their defence corps. He finished with four goals and 25 points in 55 games with Prince Edward Island. In 24 games with Worcester, he notched only four assists. In March 1997, he was reassigned by Ottawa to the
Grand Rapids Griffins of the
International Hockey League. In ten games with Grand Rapids, Traverse scored two goals and three points. Traverse appeared in two playoff games, notching one assist. However, he did not sign with Ottawa, instead agreeing to terms with the
Hershey Bears of the AHL right before the start of the
1997–98 season, though Ottawa retained his NHL rights. He played poorly to start the season and became the target of negative fan chants in Hershey. Traverse marked 14 goals and 29 points in 71 games, including a
hat trick, that led to the team's fans reversing their opinion of him. In March 1998, Traverse suffered a
hip pointer that caused him to miss time. Hershey finished second in the Mid-Atlantic Division and made the
playoffs. They advanced to the second round where they were eliminated by the eventual champions, the
Philadelphia Phantoms. Traverse made seven playoff appearances, recording one goal and four points. He signed a new one-year contract with Ottawa in July. However, an injury to
Jason York allowed all three to stay with Ottawa to begin the
1998–99 season. He was paired with
Lance Pitlick to begin the season, however, once Neckář signed, the Senators had too many defencemen and players were in and out of the lineup. Injuries to Neckář and Salo soon cleared up the logjam and Traverse recorded his first NHL points on October 31, assisting on goals by
Alexei Yashin and
Andreas Johansson in a 5–1 victory over the Montreal Canadiens. He tallied his first NHL goal on January 2, 1999, beating
goaltender Martin Brodeur, in a 6–0 shutout win over the
New Jersey Devils. In a game against the
New York Islanders on January 30, he suffered a mild
concussion that kept him out of the lineup for a few games. He returned in February only to suffer a
sprained shoulder injury on February 20 in a game against the
Philadelphia Flyers. He missed a further 13 games with the injury. However, this was due to a trade by general manager
Marshall Johnston, who sent goaltender
Damian Rhodes to Atlanta in exchange for the promise to select only certain players from the Senators, namely
Chris Luongo and
Phil Crowe, and in essence, expanding the Senators' draft protection to Traverse. Ottawa's management believed that Traverse would take the next step in his career and as a result, let Lance Pitlick depart as a free agent. Traverse made Ottawa's roster as the extra defenceman going into the
1999–2000 season. After injuries to
Igor Kravchuk and Salo, Traverse moved up the depth chart and his play was soon complimented by head coach
Jacques Martin. In late February 2000, Traverse himself missed time due to injury after suffering a bruised shoulder in a game against the
Carolina Hurricanes on February 15. Traverse finished the regular season with six goals and 23 points in 66 games. The best-of-seven series went to six games, with the Maple Leafs prevailing. In the six games, Traverse went scoreless. A restricted free agent, he and the Mighty Ducks could not agree on a contract and went to
salary arbitration, where he was awarded a one-year contract worth $550,000. He made his Anaheim debut in the opening game of the
2000–01 season against the
Minnesota Wild on the second defence pairing with
Vitaly Vishnevskiy. He recorded his first goal and point for the Mighty Ducks on October 17 on
John Vanbiesbrouck in a 4–3 victory over the New York Islanders. However, Traverse fell out of favour with coach
Craig Hartsburg by the beginning of November and was often scratched from the lineup. In 15 games with Anaheim, he recorded just the one goal. He made his Bruins debut on November 21 in a 2–1 loss to the Ottawa Senators. He scored his first goal and point for his new team in the following game on November 22, the game-winning goal on goaltender
Chris Osgood in a 5–4 victory over the
Detroit Red Wings. Traverse made 37 appearances for the Bruins, tallying two goals and eight points. It marked the first time the two teams had traded with each other since 1964. He made his debut for his third team of the season in a 3–1 loss to the
Washington Capitals on February 23. Traverse picked up his first point for the Canadiens assisting on
Jim Campbell's goal in the second period of a 4–1 victory over the
Pittsburgh Penguins on February 28. He marked his first goal for Montreal on March 3 on goaltender
Brian Boucher, in a two-point effort in a 3–1 win over the Philadelphia Flyers. In 19 games with Montreal, Traverse tallied two goals and five points. Traverse began the
2001–02 season as one of the Canadiens' top six defencemen. However, he was soon scratched by coach
Michel Therrien and replaced by other defencemen, among them rookie
Martti Järventie. Shortly after re-entering the lineup in late October and seeing some time playing as a forward on the fourth line, Traverse suffered sprained knee ligaments in early November. He returned from his injury in early December after missing 12 games, but was sent to Montreal's AHL affiliate, the
Quebec Citadelles for a conditioning loan. He made four appearances for Quebec, tallying two assists. On January 10, 2002, Traverse suffered a concussion after taking a clean bodycheck from
Michael Peca of the New York Islanders. He was knocked unconscious and remained on the ice for 15 minutes until removed via stretcher and taken to the hospital. He recovered and was cleared to play on February 5, but only returned to the ice on February 11 after missing 13 games. He finished the season with two and five points in 23 games. He started the season as a healthy scratch, but soon swapped places with struggling rookie
Ron Hainsey. He re-established himself in the lineup and was paired with
Patrice Brisebois, as the defencemen ahead of him on the depth chart, such as Hainsey,
Francis Bouillon, and
Stéphane Robidas, were all assigned to the AHL or traded away. As players came off the injured list though, Traverse's play time began to be cut and by March 2003, the Canadiens had eight defencemen available and Traverse was scratched for multiple games. He played in 65 games for Montreal, recording 13 assists. He was left unprotected in the waiver draft ahead of the season and after going unclaimed, was assigned to Montreal's new AHL affiliate, the
Hamilton Bulldogs for the
2003–04 season. He spent the entire season with Hamilton, appearing in 80 games, scoring five goals and 26 points. Then, on September 25, 2004, he signed a new contract with the
Houston Aeros of the AHL. With the NHL going through a
labour disagreement, Traverse spent the entire
2004–05 season with Houston, scoring six goals and 15 points in 72 games. He re-signed with Dallas to a one-year contract in August. He attended Dallas' training camp but did not make the team and was assigned to the team's AHL affiliate, the
Iowa Stars, to start the
2005–06 season. He suffered a lower body injury in late November, while tied for the lead in scoring on the team. He returned to Iowa's lineup on January 5, 2006 after missing 16 games. He was recalled by Dallas on January 24 after defencemen
Janne Niinimaa was questionable for the next game and
Trevor Daley was out with the flu. He made his Dallas debut on January 25 against the
St. Louis Blues, going scoreless. He was returned to Iowa in March and returned to their lineup on March 17. He finished the season appearing 40 games for Iowa, scoring three goals and 21 points. He was placed on waivers by San Jose during training camp in September. The Montreal Canadiens claimed him after injuries to Francis Bouillon and
Sheldon Souray eliminated their depth and their rookies did not impress in camp. However, his time with Montreal was short lived as the Canadiens then traded for Janne Niinimaa, and Traverse was placed on waivers again, with the intention of sending him to Hamilton of the AHL. He went unclaimed and made 26 appearances for the Bulldogs, tallying one goal and five points. The Sharks immediately assigned him to the their AHL affiliate, the
Worcester Sharks. He played in 54 games with Worcester, scoring five goals and 22 points. He appeared in 65 games for Worcester in the
2007–08 season, scoring six goals and 25 points. He played in 78 games for Worcester, scoring nine goals and 42 points. In 53 games with the Metro Stars in the
2009–10 season, he marked three goals and 32 points. DEG made the playoffs and Traverse added four assists in three playoff games. He recorded eight goals and 26 points in 52 games with Hamburg during the
2010–11 season. He returned for a final season in
2011–12, making 51 appearances and scoring seven goals and 15 points. Hamburg qualified for the playoffs and in five playoff games, Traverse recorded one goal and two points. ==International play==