Joe Pavelski has decided to retire from hockey.
After 18 seasons, he announced his retirement on SiriusXM’s NHL Morning Skate. When the Dallas Stars were knocked out of the Stanley Cup Playoffs in June, he hinted at this decision. “I don’t want to say this is official, but, you know, the plan is not to be coming back,” Pavelski said then. He needed time to process everything and make it official.
Pavelski was picked by the San Jose Sharks in the seventh round of the 2003 NHL Draft. Over his career, he scored 1,068 points with 476 goals and 592 assists in 1,332 regular-season games. His 74 playoff goals are a record for American-born players and also lead among active players .
Career Highlights:
In the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs, Pavelski became one of only 25 players to play in 200 playoff games. Although he initially planned to stay with the Sharks during the 2019 offseason, he signed a three-year deal worth $21 million with the Stars instead. For each of the last two offseasons, Pavelski signed one-year contracts to continue playing with Dallas and appeared in all their regular-season games—302 in total.
Fans might think it’s sad to see such a great player leave.
In his final season, Pavelski scored an impressive 27 goals and provided 40 assists across all regular-season games. What do you think about his retirement?
