The 38-year-old forward could have become an unrestricted free agent after this season. He is third on the Stars with 37 points (12 goals, 25 assists) in 38 games.
Last season, he had an NHL career-high 81 points (27 goals, 54 assists) in 82 games with Dallas.
"I think number one, I'm having a lot of fun obviously," Pavelski said. "It's a fun group to be around. The staff's been great, I really like the hockey, and then I think the body felt really good. ... Having a good understanding of what the next year and a half would look like was intriguing, and it's been a lot of fun.
"It starts with the winning. Winning is important, keeps things going. I've played with a couple of great players over the last few years. The systems, I think everyone can feel good about what we're doing here. It's a fun brand of hockey to play. We've only had to switch teams once, but when you get settled and you find a city you love, guys you love, kind of setup and this being a great location, it makes decisions like that a lot easier."
Stars general manager Jim Nill said the team worked directly with Pavelski.
"I made him part of the process," Nill said. "He knows our cap situation. We needed to work some things to make it work out with Joe. The important thing is Joe wants to win. … So we needed to find something where he wants the best roster on the ice possible but also we want to respect him as a player and what he should earn. We made a compromise, and it worked out well."
The Stars (23-9-6) are in first place in the Central Division.
"What can you say about him? He just contributes in so many ways outside of the obvious scoresheet," Stars coach Peter DeBoer said. "Contributions that, to me, that's immeasurable and makes my job easy. He hasn't changed, he might even be smarter as he gets older and situations he puts himself in and how he manages the game. Such a glue guy with whoever you put him with, whatever situation. Just a fantastic athlete and even better person."
A seventh-round pick (No. 205) by the San Jose Sharks in the 2003 NHL Draft, Pavelski played his first 13 NHL seasons for the Sharks before signing a three-year contract with the Stars on July 1, 2019. Later that season, at the age of 36, he led the Stars and was second in the 2020 Stanley Cup Playoffs with 13 goals, passing Maurice Richard for the most goals scored in one postseason by a player 34 or older, to help Dallas advance to the Cup Final, where it was eliminated by the Tampa Bay Lightning in six games.
In 1,206 regular-season games with the Sharks and Stars, Pavelski has 961 points (433 goals, 528 assists). He became the 10th United States-born player in NHL history to score 400 goals in a 3-1 win against the Colorado Avalanche at American Airlines Center in Dallas on Nov. 26, 2021.
