On Tuesday, veteran NHL forward Joe Pavelski made a significant announcement regarding his future in hockey. At 39 years old, Pavelski revealed that he does not intend to play in the 2024-25 NHL season, indicating that the current campaign will likely be his last. “This was it for me,” Pavelski said to reporters in Dallas. “It has been known for a while, probably. The plan is not to play next year. I don’t want to say this is official, but the plan is not to be coming back. There will be more to come on that. Everything is still so raw, nothing official. There will be more words. I’m going to need a little bit of time to really put it together and figure it out that way. Most likely, that was it and couldn’t ask for a better opportunity and a better group of guys to be around.”
Despite nearing his 40s, Pavelski was a crucial part of the Dallas Stars’ roster in the 2023-24 season. He played in all 82 regular-season games, scoring 27 goals and ranking second on the team with 67 points. However, his performance dipped during the playoffs, where he managed just one goal and three assists over 19 games. The absence of Pavelski will be felt deeply by the Stars next season, as replacing his production and leadership will be a formidable task. Nevertheless, the team is set up for long-term success with promising young players like Wyatt Johnston, Logan Stankoven, and Mavrik Bourque, who are expected to continue improving.
Pavelski’s journey to becoming a standout American NHL player adds to his extraordinary career narrative. Hailing from Plover, Wisconsin, he was selected by the San Jose Sharks in the seventh round (205th overall) of the 2003 NHL draft. It’s rare for seventh-round picks to not only make it to the NHL but also become one of the league’s top players and a captain. Pavelski’s career stats are impressive, with 476 goals, 592 assists, and 1,068 points in 1,332 regular-season games, which he played with the Sharks and the Stars. Additionally, he had a plus-201 rating. In the playoffs, he recorded 74 goals, 69 assists, and 143 points in 201 games. In 2014, Pavelski’s exceptional performance earned him a spot on the NHL’s second all-star team.
Pavelski’s potential retirement marks the end of an era for the Stars and his fans, but his contributions to the game and his team have left a lasting legacy. As the Stars prepare for the future without Pavelski, they will lean on their young talent to step up and fill the void left by a player whose journey from a seventh-round pick to an NHL star has been nothing short of inspiring.
