Stars’ Joe Pavelski makes final retirement decision after terrific career

Joe Pavelski of the Dallas Stars announced that he will not be returning next season after playing 1,332 regular season games and 201 playoff games in the NHL, according to Sirius XM NHL Network Radio.

After the Stars lost to the Edmonton Oilers in the Western Conference Final, it was heavily hinted at from Joe Pavelski that the plan was to retire after this past season. He made it clear that it was not an official announcement at the time, but this has been the expectation for some period of time since the Stars had their season come to a close.

Now, it is official and Pavelski will be moving on to retirement after a long and successful career in the NHL with the Stars and the San Jose Sharks, which spanned 17 seasons. the stars will have to move on without Pavelski, and it will be interesting to see how they do so. It will also be interesting to see what Pavelski does in retirement, and if he becomes involved with the game or a team in some other capacity down the line.

The Sharks will undoubtedly honor Pavelski for his time there now that he is retired, and that is a team that seemingly could be in play for some type of advisory role if he desires to do that at some point. It will be interesting to monitor his plans after retirement, but it would be understandable if he does not want to dive straight into that right away after he just finished playing.

A look back on Joe Pavelski’s career

Pavelski came in with the Sharks in the 2006-07 season, when he put up 14 goals and 14 assists for 28 points in 46 games, according to Hockey Reference. He would play with the Sharks for 13 seasons total, being part of a contending team for a long time, but never quite getting over the hump to win a Stanley Cup.

With the Sharks, Pavelski was a consisten producer, putting up over 60 points multiple times, and having a three year stretch in which he put up over 70 points. In 2013-14, he put up 41 goals with 38 assists for 70 points, then followed that up with 70 points the next year, and 78 the year following that. That was his most productive three-year stretch for the Sharks.

San Jose decided it was time to move on after the 2018-19 season, and Pavelski went to Dallas to playw tih the Stars in 2019-20. He was not too productive in his first season with 14 goals and 17 assists for 31 points in 67 games, but got better in the following years. In 2020-21, he put up 25 goals with 26 assists for 51 points in 56 games, which is what fans were accustomed to him producing.

Pavelski impressively put up a career-high in points in the 2021-2022 season with 81 in 82 games played at the age of 37, then followed that up with 77 points and 67 points in the last two seasons in his career. The Stars were a cup contender for a lot of that stretch as well. They likely will continue to be one next season, but they will have to do it without Pavelski.

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