Dallas Stars: Re-sign Joe Pavelski before it’s too late

With the NHL trade deadline approaching, there’s been a lot of speculation surrounding the Dallas Stars. One of the main points of emphasis has surrounded John Klingberg. Wanting a contract extension during the offseason, both parties couldn’t reach an agreement. Dallas then gave permission to Klingberg and his agent to seek a trade.

I’m not sure what will happen with the Klingberg situation and perhaps we can discuss that in the near future. The name that is of interest to me, though, is Joe Pavelski.

The Dallas Stars need to sign Joe Pavelski to an extension ASAP

The Dallas Stars wrestled the veteran away after he spent 13 years with the San Jose Sharks. The center iceman had multiple 30 goal seasons with the Sharks before signing with the Stars before the 2019-2020 season.

Every season so far, the veteran has gotten better with the Dallas Stars. During his first two season he had 14 goals and 25 goals respectively. He also added assists of 17 and 26. Remember, though, both of those years were cut short. The first was Covid-suspended season and last year was the Covid-shortened season.

This year, in 49 games played, Pavelki has already surpassed his high in points with the Stars and he’s only four goals away from eclipsing that mark as well. At this moment, Pavelski is the oldest player on the Dallas Stars (well he shares that honor with Ryan Suter). But he’s also the most productive player on the team. Pavelski is tied for the team lead with Jason Robertson and Roope Hintz and he leads the team in assists by 6. He’s also just behind both those guys in +/- with a +15.

The Dallas Stars absolutely should look into signing Joe Pavelski to an extension

So what is the point of all of this? Glad you asked. It was reported on Tuesday that general manager Jim Nill said he hopes to sign Joe Pavelski to a contract extension before the trade deadline. Pavelski is an unrestricted free-agent after this year. He is currently taking 8.6% of cap space with his $7 million annual salary. Only Tyler Seguin, Jamie Benn and Miro Heiskanen are taking up more.

Now, I’m not sure what your thoughts are on signing a guy that is 37 to a contract extension. However, I am here to point out the facts and, as they say, the proof is in the pudding. Since arriving in Dallas, Pavelski has stepped into a leader on this team. He’s not officially the captain, but he’s one of the leaders on this team. And his play on the ice backs that up.

Look no further than his first post season with Dallas. That was the bubble year. The year Dallas made it to the Stanley Cup Final. Pavelski finished with 13 goals in 27 games played. He was a big reason Dallas made it to the Final.

So, with all that being said, I think Dallas absolutely should look into signing him to an extension. The line of Pavelski, Hintz and Robertson has become one of the most dependable lines in all of hockey. You can almost count on them getting you a goal every game. Do you want to break that up by trading one of the key pieces?

Let’s sign Pavelski and let’s sign him sooner rather than later.