The Dallas Stars have signed center Joe Pavelski to a one-year contract extension with a $3.5 million cap hit, the club announced Sunday.
Pavelski, 38, has 12 goals and 37 points in 38 games with the Stars this season. His new deal also includes up to $2 million in performance-based incentives.
The Stars previously signed Pavelski to a one-year, $5.5 million contract for the 2022–23 season. January 1, 2023 marked the day he became eligible to sign a contract extension beyond this current year.
Pavelski originally joined the Stars on a three-year deal as an unrestricted free agent from the San Jose Sharks in 2019. Since his relatively pedestrian first year in Dallas, he has scored 169 points in 176 games over the last three seasons.
The Sharks originally selected Pavelski in the seventh round (No. 205 overall) of the 2003 NHL Draft. The 5’11” forward made his NHL debut with the Sharks in 2006–07 and almost immediately established himself as one of the club’s top players.
Pavelski spent parts of 13 seasons in San Jose, scoring 355 goals and 761 points in 963 games and helping the Sharks reach the 2016 Stanley Cup Final (which they lost to the Pittsburgh Penguins).
Surprisingly, his scoring rate has only increased since he joined the Stars at age 35. Even factoring in his 31-point output with Dallas in 2019–20, Pavelski has 78 goals and 200 points in 243 career games with his new team.
Pavelski currently ranks third on the Stars — behind only Jason Robertson and Roope Hintz — with 37 points in 38 games. He rang in New Years’ Eve with a goal and two assists in the Stars’ 5–2 win over the Sharks at American Airlines Center.
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