Sharks’ Quinn on Couture’s emotions, future: “This has been a very difficult time for him”
SAN JOSE – San Jose Sharks coach David Quinn is optimistic that Logan Couture can resume his NHL career.
Couture said Friday he will not play for the Sharks again this season and was not completely sure he’ll be healthy enough to return to the team’s active roster this fall when the 2024-25 season gets underway.
“I hope (I can play next season). Nothing’s ever guaranteed, obviously,” Couture said Friday, shortly after Tomas Hertl was traded by the Sharks to the Vegas Golden Knights. “This injury has lingered for a long, long time already.”
Quinn, though, was upbeat that he could have his captain back on the ice this fall.
“I know he’s concerned,” Quinn said Saturday of Couture before the Sharks played the Ottawa Senators. “I’m an optimist and have a lot of faith that he’s going to be back for us and I think time will help.
“I’m no doctor but based on all the conversations he and I have had and conversations I’ve had with other people, that time will cure the issue here. But I understand his uneasiness and his concern.”
Couture wasn’t totally blindsided by the trade, saying Hertl kept him appraised as to what was happening.
“Still shocked. Kind of have a feeling of numbness,” Couture said. “It just didn’t feel real, but it happened.
“He’s going to have a chance to win. He deserves it. I wish it would be here with us and with me, but (Vegas) has a good team with a chance to win. As much as it sucks that it’s our rival and a team we have a history with, at the end of the day, it’s another hockey team and he gets a chance to chase the Stanley Cup.”
Couture, 34, later became emotional in speaking with reporters about his friendship with Hertl, as the two were teammates for 11 seasons.
“It hurts. There’s no other way around it. It’s emotional …” Couture said, his voice trailing off.
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 has three years to go after this season on an eight-year, $64 million contract.
“This has been a very difficult time for him,” Quinn said. “As much as we feel the way we do about Tommy, we feel the same way about (Couture). This organization has been so blessed in so many ways. Not only do we have great players, but we have great people, and you’re not going to meet two greater people than Tommy and Cooch.
“It’s hard for everybody. Yesterday was a hard day for him, in particular, and for a variety of reasons. The way the year has gone for him personally, losing Tommy, it’s been a tough time for Cooch but there’s not a better pro in the NHL than him. I’m very optimistic that things will work out.”