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Hutton recorded points on the man advantage at a clip more than double that of Sutter, Stetcher and Edler. Even his assist rate was better than any other player’s points rate, save Horvat’s.

The amazing, but not terribly surprising, thing about all this: He barely skated with anyone who was part of the much-maligned first power-play unit.

The Canucks finished 29th overall in the man-advantage department last season. If that’s not a sign that it’s time to mix things up …

Alone, though, Hutton likely isn’t the magic bullet. His production rate (4.54 points per 60 minutes of power-play time) was still only just over half that of NHL-leader Victor Hedman’s. There are dozens of skaters ahead of him on the league-wide list.

Yes, some production perspective is in order.

The league’s best unit was in Buffalo last year, driven by budding superstar Jack Eichel and Zach Bogosian. Both recorded more than eight points per 60 minutes of power-play time. The Sabres scored 25 more goals than the Canucks on the season. Even a league-average power play scored at least a baker’s dozen more goals than the Canucks.

Last year, if the Canucks had somehow managed to put up a dozen more goals on the power play than they did, they still would have barely moved up the overall goals-for list from last season. Remember, they scored just 178, a new low in team history.

If, by some miracle, Travis Green and Newell Brown are able to build a league-dominant power play this season and net themselves two dozen goals more next year than they did last year … it’s fair to think they’ll find themselves in league-average territory on offence, a place where there are playoff lottery tickets to be found. That would be the high-end outcome to this season.

This year is about the rebuild, not about the playoffs. No matter the outcome, rebuilding the power play is a must.

pjohnston@postmedia.com

twitter.com/risingaction

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