San Jose Sharks Season Review: Joe Pavelski
Feb 17, 2015; Nashville, TN, USA; San Jose Sharks center Joe Pavelski (8) skates the puck across the blue line during the first period against the Nashville Predators at Bridgestone Arena. Mandatory Credit: Christopher Hanewinckel-USA TODAY Sports
There weren’t many highlights for the San Jose Sharks last season, but the continued emergence of Joe Pavelski served as one of them. Pavelski was San Jose’s best and most consistent player throughout a down year for many on the Sharks.
For the second consecutive year, Pavelski led the Sharks in scoring and goals scored. After registering 41 goals and 79 points in 2013-14, Pavelski scored 37 goals and 70 points while tying for the team-lead with Marc-Edouard Vlasic in plus/minus with a plus-12 rating.
Pavelski became the de-facto leader for San Jose last season, almost serving as the captain despite there being no official one. His leadership was on full display during a game against the Arizona Coyotes on Feb. 13. After the Sharks trailed the Coyotes 2-0 following the first period, Pavelski unleased an expletive-filled tirade towards the rest of his teammates.
In the next two periods, it was Pavelski who took the reigns recording a hat trick as San Jose went on to a 4-2 victory. It was times like these which has many believing that Pavelski will be new head coach Peter DeBoer’s choice as the next captain of the franchise.
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On the ice, Pavelski continued to deposit the goals for a Sharks team that struggled at times to put the puck in the net. San Jose ranked 15th in goals scored, and Pavelski was a scoring machine on the power play. He ranked second in the NHL with 19 power-play goals behind only Alex Ovechkin.
Also, Pavelski ranked fourth on the Sharks with 1.70 points per 60, while ranking third with a Corsi For percentage of 56.9 percent. Obviously playing alongside Joe Thornton has played a huge role in Pavelski’s success, but he has developed into a dominant force himself.
Basically, during a season which was a step backwards for the franchise as a whole, the 2014-15 season was an individual success for Pavelski. If the Sharks needed it done, he delivered.
Moving forward, it will be interesting to see if DeBoer keeps Thornton and Pavelski together or whether he drops Pavelski into a third-line center role. With the emergence late last season of Chris Tierney, I would imagine Thornton and Pavelski will begin the season together.
Regardless, there’s no reason to suspect Pavelski won’t keep lighting the lamp for the Sharks next season. He’s surpassed any expectation in his career already being an undersized center and former seventh round pick. Pavelski has 228 goals and 445 points in 643 career games, along with 26 goals and 30 assists in 81 career postseason games.
As mentioned previously, Pavelski should continue to emerge as the leader of the franchise and expect another huge season from the “Big Pavelski” as he looks to lead his teammates back to the playoffs.