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Eight years ago, I interviewed for an NHL general manager job. I put together an 85-page prospectus outlying my plan for the team. During the course of speaking with ownership, I was asked which player would be my top acquisition priority.

I did not hesitate to give my answer.

"Dan Boyle," I said, referring to the longtime defenseman, who was then a member of the Tampa Bay Lightning.

"Why Boyle?" I was asked.

"Because he has everything I want in a defenseman for my team's top pairing. He's very hockey smart. He's a leader. He makes his team better. He's not the biggest. He's not the fastest. Maybe there a few other guys who can run the power play as well as him. But he's a winner, because he does things you can't teach."

Late in my NHL refereeing career, while Boyle was a young player with the Florida Panthers, I worked a game in which coach Mike Keenan and Boyle had a loud disagreement. He was traded shortly thereafter to Tampa Bay, and we traveled on the same plane.

Shortly after his arrival in Tampa, the Lightning played a game against the Panthers. I reffed that game, too. Boyle scored a goal and tried to "gift" the puck to Keenan. Right then and there, I thought to myself, "Wow, this kid has some moxie."

His play in the seasons that followed showed why there was good reason to be self-confident.

Last week, when the New York Rangers signed Boyle (who is now 37 years old) to a contract as an unrestricted free agent, I thought it was one of the best possible signings that the Rangers could have made coming off a season where they reached the Stanley Cup Finals but fell a bit short of hockey's ultimate goal. Boyle is the type of player who can help them get to the next level, regardless of his age or his stats.

As a rule of thumb, Boyle doesn't even fit the type of physical mold I generally prefer for defensemen. I am drawn toward bigger and physically stronger players to compromise the backbone of the blueline.

Boutique statistics aside, I still think there's a place in today's NHL game for the big, savvy shot blocker who is strong on the walls and in clearing the porch around the net. Yes, it's important to have defensemen who can handle and skate with the puck. But there's a reason why the position is still called "defense": your team isn't always going to have the puck (for reasons that cannot easily be blamed or credited to a single player being on the ice) and you need players who can physically handle those battles in the trenches as well as your puck-moving types.

Ultimately, though, what matters most to me about a player isn't his height and weight, natural skills or his statistics (either of the traditional or "advanced" varieties). I want players who demonstrate good hockey sense and fit within a team concept. At the end of the day, that is what matters most.

Give me a two-way forward who ekes out 18 to 22 goals and saves his team another 20 to 25 by helping out defensively over a 40-goal scoring prima donna who acts like its beneath him to backcheck. Give me a slightly undersized defenseman who "plays big" through his competitiveness and hockey smarts over a one who has all the physical tools but lacks sense and guts. Give me a lesser skater who takes good routes to the puck over an Alexandre Daigle type who flies around but never seems to be one to come away with the puck.

To me, Dan Boyle has always been one of the prototypes for the sort of player around whom championship teams are built. He may be 37 years old, but I think he will prove to be worth the two seasons and $9 million the Rangers invested in him.

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Paul Stewart holds the distinction of being the first U.S.-born citizen to make it to the NHL as both a player and referee. On March 15, 2003, he became the first American-born referee to officiate in 1,000 NHL games.

Today, Stewart is an officiating and league discipline consultant for the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL) and serves as director of hockey officiating for the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC).

The longtime referee heads Officiating by Stewart, a consulting, training and evaluation service for officials. Stewart also maintains a busy schedule as a public speaker, fund raiser and master-of-ceremonies for a host of private, corporate and public events. As a non-hockey venture, he is the owner of Lest We Forget.

In addition to his blogs for HockeyBuzz every Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday, Stewart writes a column every Wednesday for the Huffington Post.