RALEIGH, N.C. — Joe Pavelski doesn’t make much of the numbers he’s accumulated in his 17-year career.
Whenever the 38-year-old Stars forward is asked about hitting a round number, or passing another American on some sort of scoring list, the response generally resembles a shrug: sure, that’s cool, but it doesn’t change the outcome of hockey games. Pavelski’s teammates and coaches, on the other hand, recognize the difficulty in reaching the figures that Pavelski has.
On Saturday, during a 5-4 overtime loss in Carolina, Pavelski played his 1,200th career NHL game, becoming just the 10th active player to reach that mark.
“I think definitely games played is a big milestone,” Jason Robertson said. “Whenever you can go over 1,000, it’s obviously significant. It’s great for him, and here’s to 1,300.”
Pavelski was originally a seventh-round draft pick and is one of the most accomplished late-round picks in NHL history, joining Doug Gilmore (1,474) and Luc Robitaille (1,431) as the only players drafted in the seventh round or later to play at least 1,200 games.
Stars coach Pete DeBoer is in his second stint coaching Pavelski, after having previously coached him in San Jose.
“What do you say about the guy?” DeBoer said. “Amazing athlete, amazing leadership, great message for all young players out there: when people tell you you’re too small or too slow, or you’re not an early draft pick, you overcome. And that’s what he’s done.”
At this point, it seems like the biggest question surrounding Pavelski is what happens next?
Pavelski is set to be a free agent in the summer after he signed a one-year contract extension last season with a $5.5 million cap hit and an additional $500,000 in performance bonuses. After setting a career-high with 81 points last season, Pavelski is almost a point-per-game player this season, with 31 points in 32 games. He scored a power-play goal in the first period of Saturday’s game in Carolina.
After the game, Pavelski may have hinted at wanting to return by saying “Hopefully, get a chance to keep playing in the future and keep racking up some games along the way. A lot of good times.”
It’s hardly a declarative statement from Pavelski, especially in the minutes after a road loss, but Pavelski’s status is one of the few remaining pieces of business that is outstanding.
Robertson, Roope Hintz, Jake Oettinger and Miro Heiskanen are all under contract for multiple seasons, and Pavelski is the highest-profile free agent to be on the Stars roster.
At the end of November, Stars general manager Jim Nill said the organization would “wait and see,” with the possibility of contract talks in February or March.
“Joe’s playing very well, and let’s see how the season goes,” Nill said. “That’s really probably going to be Joe’s call. If he still feels he can play at the high standard he wants to play at, then we’ll sit down and talk. At his age, what he’s done in his career, out of respect for him, I want to wait and see where he’s at.”
Last season, Pavelski signed a below-market value contract to remain in Dallas, as he likely could have received around $8 million as a free agent instead of the $6 million he signed for. When he signed the extension, he also indicated he would like to go year-to-year on one-year contracts at his age.
“A lot of fun times along the way, a lot of laughs,” Pavelski said. “Very fortunate, good health, a lot of little things you learn along the way from your teammates and coaches.”
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