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“The biggest thing is to get it out of your mind — it’s not even a concern,” said the 6-5, 216-pound Gudbranson. “I’ve met with a bunch of hand surgeons post-surgery and everybody thinks it looks phenomenal. With that understanding, it’s just going out there and forgetting about it.

“To be honest, it hasn’t even crossed my mind since I’ve been at camp. I just want to write off last year and get my game back. I was cleared for contact at the end of the season and everything we did (in rehab) was incremental.

“You don’t want to start pounding anything. I took some time with the heavy bag — not throwing punches — but pushing it around a bit to see how it feels.”

Getting a feel for playing with Del Zotto is as imperative as an uptempo system that could help Gudbranson. Less time in your own zone means quicker puck movements in Travis Green’s plan and less time for opposition forwards to get on top and physically challenge blue-liners.

“We played with a little bit of grey area last year and Greener has come in and taken that out,” stressed the 25-year-old Gudbranson.

“It’s simple. Once you have the puck, you know where to put it and if there’s a guy open, you know where to go. It’s very meticulous and very quick and actually relatively simple. It’s a good north-south game.”

There’s no guarantee Gudbranson and Del Zotto will be paired on opening night, but Green is clearly intrigued about a big, stay-at-home defenceman who can hit and move the puck. And that should allow Del Zotto to join rushes in odd-man situations to help the Canucks be less predictable in their breakouts and have better and easier zone entries.