With Jaromir Jagr starting to find his rhythm after a handful of games with the Calgary Flames, there seems to be some level of uncertainty as to where he fits in the lineup.
It’s tempting to think that the Flames should try to recapture what Jagr had with Aleksander Barkov in Florida; the pair formed one of the strongest duos in the league at even strength, especially when joined by Jonathan Huberdeau. However, the Flames don’t have a Barkov-level centre, so who is the closest?
Having done so much research to find the top-23 players at each position, I can lean on that data to shed some light on Jagr’s best fit. So, let’s look at how the Flames’ centres compare to Barkov right now.
Clearly the closest player the Flames have to Barkov at centre is Mikael Backlund, but there’s very little chance that the Flames want to break up the 3M line of Backlund, Matthew Tkachuk, and Michael Frolik. That line plays tough minutes and dominates; they don’t need to be messed with.
Since Jagr’s not going to be doing the same job he was in Florida, the question becomes where exactly does he fit best? There was a thought that Jagr could turn the Sam Bennett line into a legitimate scoring line, but I’m not really sold on Bennett, and playing third line minutes is a bit of a waste of Jagr’s talent.
The only other option is to leave Jagr where he is currently situated: on the top line with Johnny Gaudreau and Sean Monahan. Jagr’s style of play should help that line, but he likely won’t balance the line out very much as his weaknesses are similar to Monahan and Gaudreau’s.
Jagr should ease some of the stress on Gaudreau in transition, as he’s one of the best neutral-zone wingers in the NHL, and he’ll help him create more offence as well. But the improvement defensively is only marginal on a line that is already high risk.
Defence is where Jagr’s age and lack of speed begin to be a bit of a hindrance, but he’s still been better than his new linemates over the last three years.
If the Flames keep this mix of players on the top line they will likely get a high-risk, high-reward top unit that should greatly benefit from the 3M trio taking the toughest matchups.
The Flames’ top-six forwards look very scary compared to most teams, but that was relatively true last season as well. The question for this team moving forward (if they believe they’re contenders this season) is whether or not their depth can support the top half of their team.
On paper, the Flames, with a talented group of forwards and one of the strongest defence cores in the league, should be one of the best teams in the Western Conference, but the depth players need to be better. Big seasons from Micheal Ferland and Kris Versteeg would go a long way to making this team look like a contender.
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