Who should play alongside Gaudreau and Monahan: Ferland or Jagr?

The Flames will have a couple of decisions to make once Jaromir Jagr is activated off of the injured reserve.

Yes, there’s the matter of just who, exactly, will be sent down. But then, there’s also the question of who will be on Johnny Gaudeau and Sean Monahan’s line: Jagr, or Micheal Ferland?

When Jagr was injured, he was already playing on the top line. Though he had yet to score a goal of his own, the pucks were starting to go in, and Gaudreau was involved on both of his points. Chemistry was coming together, and we know Jagr can certainly keep up with players of both Gaudreau and Monahan’s age and caliber.

The original plan, however, was for Ferland to play alongside the Flames’ top offensive threats. That’s the way the 2016-17 season closed out, and though there was a spike in Ferland’s shooting percentage, chemistry was evident amongst that trio, as well.

Via Corsica, small sample sizes beware, but both look to be pretty good options:

Ferland has the more proven track record, but Jagr is, well, Jagr.

Ferland is, at this point, the safer choice. He’s played more with Gaudreau and Monahan, so they already have a more established chemistry. He’s clearly motivated, if his game against the Capitals was anything to go by, and he adds a physical presence and powerful shot and net front presence to the line.

Ferland hasn’t broken out as a scorer at the NHL level – he definitely was one later in his junior career, and had some success as an AHLer before he made the Flames full time – but it’s possible that playing on this line could be the spark he needs to really take off. When he played for the Brandon Wheat Kings, he wasn’t the driver – Mark Stone was – but he could certainly keep up, and that’s what we’re seeing here.

But the main thing that works in Ferland’s favour is his age. Gaudreau is 24, Monahan is 23, Ferland is 25. If Ferland can prove he belongs on that line over the course of this season, then the Flames could have a high end scoring line set for several years to come.

And, as an added benefit: Ferland staying with Gaudreau and Monahan means Jagr is likely to play alongside Sam Bennett. They haven’t had the chance to play too much together as of yet, but Bennett probably won’t get anyone better to learn from.

Jagr is going to go down as one of the greatest players to ever play. He is an absolute legend. And offensively, the only season in which he’s scored fewer than 40 points since his return to the NHL was the lockout year. He had 46 points last season, and 66 the year before that, all while playing alongside young players.

If you want to seriously load up the top line – even if it’s just for this one season – then you do it with this guy, full stop.

This season hasn’t quite gone as planned. And while Jagr’s age – 45 years young – no doubt plays a part in this, missing all of training camp and having to work to get back up to speed played a big part in his slow start. (I’d imagine missing the past four games had to do with that, as well, but that’s pure speculation on my part.)

Jagr averaged 17:00 in ice time in 2016-17. Maybe he’s not playing full first line minutes, but if he can get healthy and stay that way, then we’ll probably see his ice time creep up to the point where he can play a regular shift alongside Gaudreau and Monahan, plus powerplay time.

I’m not sure there’s a wrong answer here, and it is possible we’ll see both options played out over the course of the season. No matter who it is, the line should be seeing a lot of offensive zone starts, and a lot of scoring chances. Ferland may be the better option for the long-term, but over the short-term, a healthy Jagr probably wins out.