The end of an era in San Jose!

The San Jose Sharks will never be the same after Monday. 

Joe Pavelski is one of the high-profile free agents out there and the veteran is focused on finding a contending club that he can sign with for three to four years. 

Team insider Kevin Kurz of The Athletic spoke with the captain’s agent on Friday and unfortunately for the Sharks fanbase, news aren’t good…

“Just spoke with Joe Pavelski’s agent, Dan Plante. The overwhelming sense now is that Pavelski will be moving on to another team as a free agent. Sounds like the end of an era in San Jose…”

Pavelski has refused to meet with a couple of teams since the veteran forward does not consider them contenders. He instead met with the Dallas Stars and the Tampa Bay Lightning, and it seems almost certain that he will join one of these two clubs. 

The 34-year-old scored 38 goals and posted 64 points in 75 games this season. He was limited to 13 games during the playoffs due to injuries, including hand surgery and head trauma, but still managed to record four goals and nine points. 

He will be missed in San Jose, but it feels like the Sharks simply cannot offer him what he deserves and will get on the open market. 

After signing defenseman Erik Karlsson to a massive contract earlier this summer, the Sharks were left with just $12.5 million to re-sign Pavelski, forwards Joe Thornton, Timo Meier, Kevin Labanc, Gustav Nyquist, Joonas Donskoi and defenseman Joakim Ryan. Yikes… that’s not much money to go around and explains why Pavelski has chosen to head elsewhere. 

The end of an era - that’s for sure!