Author: Josh Erickson

Forward Joe Pavelski will indeed be retiring, he told Sirius XM’s Scott Laughlin today. He told reporters after the Stars were eliminated from the playoffs in early June that he expected 2023-24 to be his final season. The league has confirmed Pavelski’s retirement.

Pavelski, who turned 40 last week, has spent nearly a decade as one of the league’s most consistent two-way forwards and best net-front tippers while producing well above expected in his later years. After departing his longtime home with the Sharks for the Stars in free agency in 2019, many expected him to enter a decline, but he instead played a top-line role on a club that’s reached three Western Conference Finals in the last five years.

He finally showed signs of slowing down last year, though. His 67 points in 82 games, while still top-six-caliber, was his worst per-game production since his first season in Dallas. By the time the playoffs rolled around, he’d been bumped down to second-line duties alongside Matt Duchene and Mason Marchment, and the normally clutch postseason performer struggled to produce with only a goal and three assists in 19 games. Still, he ended his career on a rather high note, checking in as one of the better UFAs available on this summer’s market. Instead, he’s hanging up his skates.

Pavelski’s rise to stardom was quite unexpected after waiting until the seventh round to hear his name called by San Jose in the now-fabled 2003 draft. After a two-year run at the University of Wisconsin that resulted in him producing well over a point per game and winning a national championship, Pavelski signed his entry-level contract and turned pro during the 2006 offseason.

He started the season in the minors, but after racking up 26 points in 16 games with AHL Worcester, he was off to the big leagues without ever looking back. He hit the ground running with 14 goals and 28 points in 46 games with the Sharks to close the campaign, and he soon was firmly entrenched in a middle-six role on one of the best forward groups of the time. He was a crucial secondary scoring presence through most of his 20s, racking up 150 goals and 336 points in 479 games over his first seven campaigns while receiving outside Selke Trophy consideration annually.

Entering the final season of his contract, the Sharks inked him to a five-year, $30MM extension to keep him from reaching UFA status the following summer. He responded with a career-high 41 goals, totaling 79 points and placing top 10 in both Hart and Selke Trophy voting. Hockey Reference attributed 11.5 standings points to Pavelski’s play that season, finishing fourth among skaters behind Sidney Crosby and future teammates Corey Perry and Tyler Seguin.

Pavelski produced similarly the following two seasons, putting together a multi-year iron-man streak while routinely tossing up over 70 points. His 11 game-winning goals in 2015-16 led the league before embarking on a spectacular playoff run, posting a league-leading 14 goals in 24 playoff games – four of which were GWGs – as San Jose advanced to its first Stanley Cup Final in franchise history. Pavelski and the Sharks were usurped by the Penguins in six games, however, the closest he would come to winning it all.

That was also his first season as Sharks captain, a title he’d hold until departing for Texas. He remained an effective top-six presence in his final years in the Bay, although not quite as dominant as his early-2010s play. He gave the Sharks 89 goals, 109 assists and 198 points in 238 games over his final three seasons before a cap crunch helped usher him out the door in the summer of 2019 when his extension expired, inking a three-year, $21MM deal with Dallas.

In his first season with the Stars, it looked like an ill-advised deal. He looked like he’d lost a step, averaging around two minutes per game fewer than his last year in San Jose, and his 31 points in 67 games was the worst production of his career on a per-game basis. But after the COVID-19 pandemic ended the season early, Pavelski returned with a vengeance in the bubble playoffs, rediscovering his form with 13 goals (a league-leading 10 at even strength) in 27 contests as the Stars upset their way to the Stanley Cup Final. Just like he had with San Jose in 2016, though, Dallas fell to the Lightning in a six-game Final.

It was a precursor of things to come for Pavelski in Dallas. Upgraded to a new-look first line with rookie Jason Robertson and third-year center Roope Hintz for the 2020-21 season, he racked up 25 goals and 51 points in the shortened 56-game campaign. The Stars missed the playoffs, but they’d be back the following year on the heels of a career-best 81 points (27 goals, 54 assists) from “Captain America” as he continued to gel seamlessly with Hintz and Robertson, playing a pivotal role in their development. He continued to hover north of 0.8 points per game, tossing up 77 and 67 points in his final two campaigns as he helped pass the torch to Dallas’ young talent, losing to the Golden Knights and Oilers in back-to-back Conference Finals.

He now retires having played 1,332 regular-season and another 201 playoff games over 18 seasons. Playing on some of the best two-way lines in the league throughout his career, he logged a career +201 rating that’s tied for 42nd all-time among forwards. He tallied 1,068 points (476 goals, 592 assists) while compiling 458 PIMs, 75 game-winning goals, and a remarkable 54.5 CF% while averaging 18:34 per game. His estimated career earnings neared $81MM, per PuckPedia. All of us at PHR salute Pavelski for an exceptional career that’s sure to earn him Hall of Fame consideration.

Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.