Joe Pavelski, formerly of San Jose Sharks and Dallas Stars, retires

Former San Jose Sharks captain Joe Pavelski made official Tuesday what had already been believed for weeks — that he’s retiring as an NHL player.

Pavelski indicated after he and the Dallas Stars were eliminated in the Western Conference final by the Edmonton Oilers last month that he had likely played his last NHL game after a remarkable 18-year career.

Nothing has changed for Pavelski, who remains at peace with ending his playing career despite never winning the Stanley Cup.

“I think I’m ready to step away from the game on the playing side of things and go from there,” Pavelski said Tuesday on NHL Network radio on SiriusXM. “There’s no plan to play. I didn’t want to use the ‘r’ word, I guess, right away. Just for the fact that there isn’t … nothing set in stone, but that is the plan that we’re not playing. I wanted just a little bit of extra time (after the season) to think about it.

“I was pretty comfortable with that plan then, so I didn’t want to keep people hanging and thinking and talking about certain things, but it’s a pretty clear outlook. Over the last month, we’ve given it some more thought. … It’s just a great time for us as a family, as a career.”

Selected 205th overall in the seventh round by the Sharks in the 2003 draft, Pavelski played 13 seasons with the team from 2006 to 2019. On the Sharks’ all-time list, Pavelski is second in goals (355), third in points (761), and fourth in assists (406) and games played (963).

Pavelski finished his career with 476 goals and 592 assists in 1,332 regular-season games. Pavelski is 60th on the NHL’s all-time games played list, and 71st in points scored.

Before retirement, Pavelski was fifth among active players for goals and seventh with 1,068 points.

Pavelski also had 143 points in 201 playoff games, and his teams qualified for the postseason in 16 of his 18 seasons.