Best post-lockout Ranger: Round 1, Fedor Tyutin (6) vs. Karel Rachunek (11)

Carl Hagelin took out Derek Morris yesterday.

As the offseason wears on, us and Matt Josephs of Blue Line Station (Twitter: 11Matt_Josephs8) will be running a tournament for the Best Ranger since the 2005 lockout. Yesterday we saw #4 Carl Hagelin take out #13 Derek Morris. Today’s matchup is #6 Fedor Tyutin vs. #11 Karel Rachunek:

Fedor Tyutin (acquired – 2001 draft, 2nd round)

Tyutin was the first home grown defenseman to make an impact for the Rangers in what felt like an eternity. Tyutin’s three years with the Rangers saw him grow from a rookie into a first pairing defenseman (paired with then youngster Dan Girardi). Under Tom Renney, Tyutin was used as in a hard-hitting, shutdown role while chipping in a bit offensively. The Tyutin you’ve been seeing in Columbus is the Tyutin the Rangers had for three years, showing how consistent he was. In 225 post-2005-lockout games, Tyutin put up a line of 13-46-59 while playing solid defensive hockey.

Tyutin (and Christian Backman) was eventually sent to Columbus for Nik Zherdev and Dan Fritsche. At the time of the deal, it was a case of the Rangers dealing from a strength (defense) to address a weakness (scoring). However, the trade didn’t exactly work out the way the Rangers had hoped.

Karel Rachunek (acquired – 2004 trade with Ottawa)

Rachunek was acquired by the Rangers as a part of their 2004 firesale, when they shipped Greg de Vries to the Senators for Rachunek and Alexandre Giroux. Rachunek spent a season with the Rangers in 2006-2007, putting together a line of 6-20-26 in 66 games. Rachunek primarily played on the bottom pairing, fighting with Tomas Pock for that coveted final spot in the top-six. Rachunek eventually signed with the Devils for the following season.

Tragically, Rachunek was one of the many that perished in the Yaroslavl Locomotiv plane crash. Rachunek was Yaroslavl’s captain.

So who do you think is the better Ranger, Tyutin or Rachunek? Vote thumbs up for the higher seed (Tyutin), or thumbs down for the lower seed (Rachunek). Voting ends at midnight tonight.