SAN JOSE – Ty Dellandrea had spent years learning from Joe Pavelski. So there was no lack of motivation on his part — or for anyone else on the Dallas Stars roster — to try and win a Stanley Cup this year for the former San Jose Sharks captain who was eying retirement.
When the Stars lost in the Western Conference final to the Edmonton Oilers last month, Dellandrea and others knew that this was probably Pavelski’s last shot at winning the Cup as a player.
“It was devastating,” Dellandrea said Thursday. “There’s no better guy to fight for or to give everything you have to help him accomplish his goal, or all of our goals. We gave everything we had for him and we kind of knew what was around the corner, and had a bit of extra juice for that reason in particular.
“It hurt losing in general. But it hurt knowing that Joe had to go out on that note.”
Pavelski announced on June 4 that he was not planning to play any more NHL games after an 18-year NHL career that began in San Jose in 2006. But he continued to talk with Dellandrea, who was traded by the Stars to the Sharks on June 19 for a 2025 fourth-round draft pick, about the organization and the city itself.
“He’s an everyday-er. He shows up with a smile on his face and goes to work,” said Dellandrea of Pavelski, who played 963 games for the Sharks until 2019. “I learned a lot from just how he handles himself on a day-to-day He’s one of the greatest teammates I’ve played with so far in my career.”
The 6-foot-2 Dellandrea, who turns 24 later this month, wants to carry those lessons he learned from Pavelski as he begins a new chapter with the Sharks, who signed him to a two-year, $2.6 million deal last week.
It’s a badly needed fresh start for Dellandrea, a restricted free agent looking for a change of scenery after seeing his role diminished with the Stars last season.
“There were talks at the end of the year meetings, and I felt (the Stars) weren’t, I guess, open to the idea of having me back. So we had some talks about that,” Dellandrea said.
“We had our concerns about what the situation would have been next year, and then I was traded.”
A year after he played in all 82 regular season games, Dellandrea was a healthy scratch 40 times in 2023-24, having fallen down the organizational depth chart. His production diminished along with his ice time, as he scored just nine points in 42 games after finishing with 28 the year before.
“It was hard. It was really hard,” Dellandrea said of last season. “Tough to grow your game and feel like you’re improving as a younger player. Working through that, I learned a lot about my game and what I need to improve on to be an everyday player and help teams win.
“I think in the long run, I’ll take stuff with me from that experience and be better off.”
San Jose Sharks’ Luke Kunin (11) fights against Dallas Stars’ Ty Dellandrea (10) in the second period at SAP Center in San Jose, Calif., on Tuesday, March 26, 2024. (Shae Hammond/Bay Area News Group)
Although the Sharks have made several forward additions and figure to have a competitive camp, Dellandrea will at least have an opportunity to hit the reset button on his career.
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With his straight-ahead style, Dellandrea would seem to fit in with the no-nonsense identity that general manager Mike Grier is trying to build in San Jose. Dellandrea was also a big part of the Stars’ penalty kill and figures to help a Sharks team that was 28th in the NHL in that department last season.
Dellandrea projects to be in the Sharks’ bottom six but can play up in the lineup – as he demonstrated two years ago. Interestingly enough, Dellandrea has only fought in the NHL four times, but two of those scraps have come against his new Sharks teammate, Luke Kunin.
Dellandrea said he’s already been in contact with some of his Sharks teammates and has also spoken with new Sharks coach Ryan Warsofsky.
“I have a lot of energy. I like to play a fast-paced game, north-south,” Dellandrea said. “Physical and competitive, but I also have some skill and some finishing that I’m looking forward to bringing out.”
