Stanley Cup or not, Joe Pavelski built out a fantastic NHL career

Joe Pavelski told reporters last Tuesday he doesn’t intend on playing in the NHL in 2024-25, likely meaning the soon to be 40-year-old forward has played his final game in the NHL.

“We’re still moving back at some point here, decompressing and figuring all this stuff out and logistics and stuff,” Pavelski said during the Dallas Stars’ end-of-year media availability. “I don’t want to say this is official, but the plan is not to be coming back.”

During his 18-year career, Pavelski, taken in the seventh round of the famous 2003 NHL Entry Draft, scored 476 goals and 592 assists for 1068 points in 1332 regular-season games with the Stars and San Jose Sharks.

Even more impressive is the amount of playoff runs Pavelski has been part of, including two Stanley Cup Final appearances in 2016 and 2020, and seven total Western Conference Finals.

On Thursday’s episode of Daily Faceoff LIVE, Frank Seravalli and Tyler Yaremchuk discuss the forward’s career and if he earned a spot in the Hockey Hall of Fame.

Tyler Yarmechuk: Out in Dallas, it certainly sounded like Pavelski is done. If it is the end for him, what a career it’s been. His commitment to the game was unbelievable, and if it ends, it ends without a Stanley Cup ring, but that doesn’t diminish a fantastic career.

Frank Seravalli: It makes me sad, though, because he’s one of those guys that deserves it, and got painfully close. Two Stanley Cup Final appearances, and three Conference Finals in the last five years with the Stars.

There’s been so many close calls with him, and he’s one of those rare players that’s gotten better with age. How many guys go from 30-something points and back to 81 in their late 30s? He had an incredible career, and I’d say that, for a generation, he was the NHL’s best net-front player.

I’m gonna take it a step further: I don’t know if he’s first ballot, but he’s in my Hall of Fame.

You can watch the full segment and the rest of the episode here…