"Sarah, Nate and I have loved the city of Dallas and the Stars organization since day one," said Pavelski. "We are very committed to winning here and have full belief in Tom Gaglardi and his family and Jim Nill to give our group every resource in order to do so. We have a great dressing room, and it was important to me, and my family, to show that we are all in."
Pavelski leads the Stars in scoring with 59 points (22 goals, 37 assists) in 56 games. He led them last season with 51 points in 56 games. These are two of the better scoring seasons in a career that's spanned more than 16 years.
The human body is amazing.
Pavelski isn't wearing down, he's getting better. At the very least, he's every bit as good as when he started.
And that's just one of the reasons why this is a great deal.
Not only do you get someone that can still physically perform the tasks needed at the NHL level, but you also get a guy dripping with experience and calmness. It's no surprise that Jason Robertson and Roope Hintz have become great players while on a line with Pavelski. It's no surprise the Stars as a team have started to meld the elements of young talent with veteran presence.
He's been that important.
Oh, and Pavelski also has been a great complement to defenseman Ryan Suter. The two friends have bonded quickly and have pushed each other to stay at their peak while other NHLers might be deteriorating at this age.
One of the fun parts of Thursday night was the fact John and his guitarist Davey Johnstone, 70, played off one another so well. The two have been together for almost 50 years, and they clearly had a lot of fun when they started to extend some of the musical parts of "Take Me to the Pilot" or "Levon" or "Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting." It was a raucous duel with each man showing off to the other - and to the audience - and the result was mind-blowing.
There are scheduled to be 311 stops on the tour, and you ask yourself why someone would do that at his age. The joy those two musicians shared onstage was a pretty tangible explanation.
Which brings us back to Pavelski again.
Let's be honest, the Stars are in a weird place. They wanted to be better this season. They were targeting a big campaign, and they got off to a slow start. They're pushing hard now, but they're still in a bit of flux when it comes to making the playoffs. They could have some real questions.
Mix into that the fact the coach is on the final year or his contract, the GM has one year left, and they have a few significant pending UFAs in John Klingberg, Alexander Radulov and Braden Holtby. They also have to come up with new deals for Robertson, Jake Oettinger and Denis Gurianov, and are a year away from a big extension for Hintz.
That's a lot of juggling.
So, getting Pavelski done is a big deal. It's a statement that there's comfort in the oldies, and that being consistent (even at this age) shouldn't be that surprising when it comes to special people.
It's also pretty clear that even old guys can still rock pretty hard.
This story was not subject to the approval of the National Hockey League or Dallas Stars Hockey Club.
Mike Heikais a Senior Staff Writer for DallasStars.com and has covered the Stars since 1994. Follow him on Twitter @MikeHeika.
