Pavelski, Perry will help Stars take next step, Seguin says

TORONTO -- Joe Pavelski and Corey Perry will give the Dallas Stars exactly what they need to take the next step this season, forward Tyler Seguin said.

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Pavelski signed a three-year contract with the Stars as an unrestricted free agent July 1 after playing his first 13 NHL seasons for the San Jose Sharks. The 35-year-old forward and former Sharks captain had 64 points (38 goals, 26 assists) in 75 games last season.
Perry had 10 points (six goals, four assists) in 31 games for the Anaheim Ducks last season and signed a one-year contract with Dallas on July 1 after Anaheim bought out his contract. The 34-year-old has 776 points (372 goals, 404 assists) in 988 NHL games but missed the first four months of last season while recovering from a knee injury.
Seguin said he was impressed with how the Sharks defeated the Vegas Golden Knights 5-4 in overtime in Game 7 of the 2019 Western Conference First Round after Pavelski left with an injury in the third period. San Jose trailed 3-0 before scoring four power-play goals in 4:01 during a major penalty called on the play when Pavelski was injured.
"Seeing how well San Jose rallied around him in the playoffs after he took that hit, you can tell the kind of guy he is in the locker room," said Seguin, who spent a weekend golfing with Pavelski this offseason. "I've only heard positive things about him, and I'm looking forward to having him."

Though the Stars allowed the second-fewest goals in the NHL (200) last season, they scored 209 goals, which tied the Arizona Coyotes for 28th. The additions of Pavelski and Perry to a team that lost Game 7 of the second round to the St. Louis Blues should have the Stars raising their expectations this season.
"It was a good finish, our identity kind of came together there," said Seguin, who led Dallas in goals (33), assists (47) and points (80). "We went into last season thinking we were going to be a little bit more of an offensive team, and then we weren't scoring as well as we thought we were going to be. Our goalies were playing unbelievably, our defensemen were playing well, and then we had kids stepping up at the right time.
"We figured out our identity was going to be a defensive team first, for sure. After we figured all that out, we put it all together and made a nice run, but we're setting our expectations a little higher this year."