McGuire breaks down Canucks' top two lines

Pierre McGuire was on TSN 1040 Friday afternoon.

On line combos for the Vancouver Canucks, beginning with Radim Vrbata skating with the Sedins:

“That’s a really creative threesome. Radim Vrbata knows how to find dead spots in coverage about as well as any player in the league. The problem I would see with that line is if it came to a huge tempo game, you might have a bit of a problem maintaining defensive presence, but in terms of establishing offence I think that would be a really interesting combination.

On Alex Burrows, Nick Bonino and Zack Kassian as a potential second line:

“I’ll tell you right now – he’s going to surprise so many people that have no idea who Nick Bonino is. Nick Bonino is a very highly cerebral player who has tremendous skills and can distribute the puck really well. If Alex has his speed back, and his competitive fire back, and is injury-free I think that’s a real nice combination.

“And I told you before we even got talking about the Canucks on the ice that Kassian had to have a breakthrough year. This is a huge year for Zack Kassian. And he’s gotta have that kind of a year. And if he can have a big year and Burrows has his speed back, you will be shocked at how good Nick Bonino is. Nick Bonino is a really, really good player.”

Source: TSN 1040/ Transcript: Nichols on Hockey