SAN JOSE – San Jose Sharks captain Logan Couture is hopeful he’ll be able to play again this fall but admitted he still has some lingering concerns that his nagging groin injury will never completely go away.
“With injuries, that’s the way it always goes,” said Couture, who played in just six of 82 games this season. “The mind is always going to doubt that things are going to be back to normal or feel good. But myself, the doctors, we all believe that I can get back to playing and not being in pain, which is where I’m at right now.
“My day-to-day life has been back to normal, so I’m thankful for that. But we’ll see.”
Couture missed all of training camp and the first 45 games of the regular season with an often painful and debilitating condition called osteitis pubis, described as inflammation in the joint between a person’s left and right pubic bones.
After some setbacks earlier in the season, Couture began working with a San Francisco-based physiotherapist in December and started to see some improvement. He rejoined the Sharks’ lineup on Jan. 20, but his symptoms soon returned, and he was able to play just six games before he was shelved again in February.
Couture said after his last game of the season, on Jan. 31 in Anaheim against the Ducks, it was about another seven to eight weeks “to not be in pain every day.”
Getting past the injury is so difficult, Couture said, because the inflammation in that joint is “so tough for it to go away because you’re continuously using that joint.
“When you take a step or get out of bed, you’re using that joint,” Couture said, “so I think it’s just because it lingers for so long and the impact that it can have on your life. If you broke a bone, you know it’s going to be better in six weeks or whatever.
“But this thing is so unknown and the pain and what happens to your body is so severe. it’s just a tough injury.”
Couture said he’s spoken with a few NHL players who have had osteitis pubis about getting past the injury.
“Guys are going through it right now around the league,” Couture said. “Some guys are doing a little bit better. Some guys (symptoms) aren’t as severe as mine (were) and they’re a little bit younger.
“Another guy who’s a little bit older than me was able to get through it and he told me, ‘The hardest thing you’re going to do is get over this injury.’ He had an injury where he broke his fibula, and he said, ‘I’d take that 100 times over osteitis pubis.’ So it’s tough. But it can be done.”
With his offseason, Couture said his routine might not change that much. He’ll train a bit differently with his rehabilitation in mind and continue to do the exercises he was doing in San Francisco.
He wants to begin skating in July and after visiting with friends and family in Canada, Couture will return to San Jose in August and resume skating and training with the Sharks strength and conditioning coaches.
As of now, Couture feels he can start training camp in September as a full participant.
“That’s my plan right now,” Couture said. “I met with the doctor just 20 minutes ago, and that’s their belief. That’s what I’m hoping for. I miss playing hockey so much, so I hope so.”
The Sharks this season were 4-1-1 with Couture in the lineup. But they never had a game in which all four of their centermen — Couture, Tomas Hertl, Mikael Granlund, and Nico Sturm — all dressed on the same night and were 19-54-9 for the season.
“Losing sucks,” Couture said. “Losing sucks for the players, it sucks for the coaches, it sucks for the fans, people that spend their money to come watch us play. I was fortunate to be here through many, many great years when that building was full every night, continuously. The team was good.
“I hope that we can get back there and I hope I’m around this team when we get back to that point.”
“It would be everything,” to get Couture back, Sharks defenseman Mario Ferraro said. “He’s our captain and he’s the biggest part of this team, really. I feel really bad for him with how the year went for him. He’s a competitor he wants to be out there. I know he’s dying to be out there.”
Couture has three years to go after this season on an eight-year, $64 million contract. He’s seen Brent Burns, Tomas Hertl, and Erik Karlsson all move onto teams that are in a more competitive window, although Karlsson and the Pittsburgh Penguins missed the playoffs by three points.
Trading Couture at this point would be next to impossible for Sharks general manager Mike Grier. Besides Couture’s uncertain future considering his injury, the Sharks have used up their three salary retention spots through the 2024-2025 season in the Burns, Karlsson and Hertl deals.
Not many teams would be able to absorb Couture’s $8 million cap hit — or would want to considering his age. Any Couture deal would have to wait until the summer of 2025 when Burns’ salary comes off the Sharks’ books and after the Guelph, Ontario native shows he can still be a productive player.
Couture has 701 points in 933 career regular-season NHL games, all with the Sharks. When San Jose regularly made the playoffs, Couture was one of the team’s most valuable players, with 101 points in 116 postseason games.
“I have a history of being a productive player in this league,” Couture said, “but I’m going to have to come back and show it for teams to have interest in me and that’s just the way it is.
“I love San Jose, I believe in what they’re doing here. Obviously a terrible, terrible season, but I think this is rock bottom. They’re growing this organization in the proper way, even though you may not see it right now with how tough this season was.
“But we’ll see. I just turned 35, so the clock for me playing in this league is probably on the back nine. But I want to win. I miss playing in the playoffs. I’m going to try and get back playing. Obviously, I see guys that were here the last couple of years have gone on. Some are in the playoffs and some aren’t.”
Source: www.mercurynews.com