Was this the final ride for Dallas Stars’ Joe Pavelski? 

When the Dallas Stars fell 2-1 in Game 6 of the Western Conference Final on Sunday, many eyes shifted toward Joe Pavelski. 

The Stars forward recently turned 39 years old and appeared to be slowing down for the first time in his career. With his contract expiring this summer, was this his final ride with Dallas? Or even further, was this the last run of his long and successful NHL career? 

“I don’t know if it’ll be Joe’s last game or not, but absolute privilege of my coaching career to coach a guy like that,” Stars coach Pete DeBoer said in a postgame press conference Sunday. “Our young players are all better for having been around a guy like that.”

Pavelski has racked up 1,332 career NHL games over 18 seasons with the Stars and San Jose Sharks. The Wisconsin native tallied 761 points (355 goals, 406 assists) in 963 games with the Sharks. He added 100 points (48 goals, 52 assists) in 134 playoff games.

Pavelski was named captain of the Sharks in 2015 and ranks behind only Patrick Marleau and Joe Thornton for most franchise records. 

Pavelski joined the Stars in 2019 and immediately made an impact, helping Dallas advance to the Stanley Cup Final during the 2020 COVID-19 bubble playoffs. ‘Captain America’ has 307 points (121 goals, 186 assists) in 369 regular-season games with the Stars and tallied 43 points (26 goals, 17 assists) in 67 playoff games. 

Since arriving in Dallas, Pavelski has seemingly turned back the clock. Each season with the Stars was better than the previous, and the veteran forward even recorded a career-high 81 points (27 goals, 54 assists) in 2021-22. 

“Day one since he’s been in here, he’s meant everything to our group,” Stars forward Tyler Seguin told reporters after the Game 6 loss Sunday. “On the ice, off the ice… Just an amazing person to have in here.” 

His off-ice impact may even be more monumental, something that was evident from the emotion of his teammates after Game 6. 

Joe Pavelski may have played his last NHL game, and his Stars teammates got emotional discussing his impact 😢 pic.twitter.com/NqKbTgkvaq

— B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) June 3, 2024

Pavelski has his fingerprints all over the Stars’ recent success.

He played a huge role in acclimating Pete DeBoer, who coached him in San Jose, when he came to Dallas in 2022. DeBoer often spoke of how much he helped him communicate with the players and eventually, sell them on the style of hockey they needed to play to have success.

And when his organization needed someone to step up in a unique way, Pavelski was the first to volunteer to house rookie Wyatt Johnston, who has now lived with him and his family for the past two seasons. He even opened his doors to rookie Logan Stankoven at times this season. 

“A lot,” Johnston told reporters about what Pavelski means to him. “I know I can’t thank him and his family enough for what they’ve done for me.” 

But this year, on the ice, things seemed to slow down. Pavelski still played all 82 games, a testament to his preparation, but saw his numbers dip to 67 points (27 goals, 40 assists). 

This was not much of an alarm for anyone around the team, as DeBoer asked many players to take on fewer minutes and less responsibility to enable some younger guys to step into bigger roles. Pavelski averaged only 16:48 of ice time per game, the lowest since his second season in the league. The result was a team able to roll four lines and utilize its elite depth, a huge part of their Central Division and Western Conference championships during the regular season. 

In the postseason, however, Pavelski really struggled. Rather than stepping up in the biggest moments as we had grown accustomed to seeing, the 2003 seventh-round pick was held nearly silent, finishing with only one goal and four points in 19 playoff games. He did not score in the final seven playoff games and he began to voice his frustration. Just to compare, he had 14 points in 19 games last spring and 19 points in 27 games in 2020. 

Until the final buzzer went off in Game 6, Stars fans waited for that big Pavelski playoff moment that never came. 

Pavelski has reached the end of his one year, $5.5 million contract from last summer. It was his second one-year extension with Dallas after signing a three-year, $21 million deal in 2019. 

The Stars have a long list of pending free agents, some unrestricted and some restricted. Key names include Pavelski, Matt Duchene, Ty Dellandrea, Chris Tanev, Jani Hakanpaa, Thomas Harley and Scott Wedgewood. 

If this was the final season for Pavelski, what a ride it was. He will walk away as the fifth leading scorer among U.S. born skaters, a four-time NHL all-star and a player lucky enough to experience two Stanley Cup Finals.

Pavelski has yet to reach the ultimate goal. He has played the third-most regular-season games and is the only player in NHL history to play 200 playoff games without winning the Stanley Cup, something that his teammates took onto their shoulders throughout his career. 

But more importantly, he will have touched so many players, coaches, fans and others around the NHL and the sport of hockey. 

“The world,” Stars captain Jamie Benn told reporters Sunday about Pavelski’s meaning to the team. “All-time teammate, person, great leader, good friend.