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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. Today the second round continues with #2 Brandon Dubinsky vs. #7 Brian Boyle.

Just a note: I am on vacation. The tournament posts are still going up, but I had to schedule them in advance, so the winners of the previous matchups won’t be posted in the picture until I get back next week. I am still keeping track though.

Brandon Dubinsky (acquired – 2004 draft, 2nd round)

The Rangers actually traded down in the second round twice, and still nabbed Dubinsky with the 60th pick (details here). Dubi got his first cuppa in 2006-2007, playing six games, and made the club out right the following season. What followed was five straight seasons of aggressive, blue collar hockey that meshed well with the coaches and the fans. Dubi was a workhorse for the Rangers, consistently playing 20 minutes of hard nosed hockey.

Dubi played 393 games with the Rangers, putting up a line of 81-132-213 with a pair of 20-goal seasons. Dubi was eventually sent to Columbus in the Rick Nash deal.

Brian Boyle (acquired – 2009 trade with LA)

When the Rangers acquired then-RFA Brian Boyle for a third round pick in the 2010 draft (Jordan Weal), most thought this was a bad trade and a terrible overpayment just so we could have “our own 2003 1st round pick.” Boyle was used in a bottom-six capacity and really thrived in that role with the Rangers, with both Tom Renney and John Tortorella. His 21-goal season may have been a blip and he’s more likely to be in the 5-10 goal, 10-20 point range. That said, he’s one of the top defensive forwards in the game, and he is someone that AV will rely on heavily for defensive zone draws.

Over his four seasons in New York, Boyle has a scoring line of 38-34-72 while missing just 21 games over those four seasons. As a fourth line center (note: I believe he’s misused as a third line center, something that AV will likely rectify), there are very few that hold a candle to the effectiveness of Boyle.

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

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