It came as no surprise when San Jose Sharks head coach Peter DeBoer announced that Joe Pavelski would be the newest captain of Team Teal. The 31-year-old forward finished last season with 37 goals, just four shy of his career-high total of 41 in 2013-14. With the Sharks 41 games into this season, he has 22 goals and 43 points so far, and is seemingly on pace to surpass last season’s total.
However, it’s not just his goal-scoring ability that has garnered everyone’s attention in the National Hockey League.
Drafted 205th overall by the Sharks in the 7th round of the 2003 NHL Entry Draft, one can be absolutely amazed by how hard he’s worked to become, in my opinion, one of the best and most underrated forwards in the NHL.