SAN JOSE – San Jose Sharks captain Logan Couture has had a setback in his rehabilitation from an undisclosed lower-body injury, further muddying the timeline for when he could possibly return to the team’s lineup.
Couture skated last Friday and also on Monday in his first two times on the ice since the Sharks began their training camp began on Sept. 21. He came out of Friday’s on-ice workout OK but was given days off on both Tuesday and Wednesday, with Sharks coach David Quinn revealing that Couture “had a little bit of a setback” and remains week-to-week.
Couture, who had already been ruled out for the Sharks’ season-opening game on Thursday at home against the Vegas Golden Knights, will undergo more tests and continue to be evaluated. He will be off his skates for at least a few more days, Quinn said.
Couture has played in every Sharks’ season-opener since 2010, and Quinn said the centerman was eager to return from his injury as soon as he could.
“There always is, especially with someone like him with his makeup. He’s dying to get back out here,” Quinn said. “To see him around here, it’s killing him. But he’s not going to get out there until we’re 100% sure he’s ready to go.”
Asked, though, if Couture came back too soon this time, Quinn said, “Obviously from a medical standpoint, you’re trying things, ‘this might work, and let’s see how it feels, let him skate.’ And it just didn’t work out.”
Couture’s present timeline for a potential return remains unclear. At the very least, the setback jeopardizes his chances of playing this month when the Sharks play nine times in the first 18 days of their season.
“He’s frustrated,” Quinn said of Couture. “But this is part of being a pro athlete. The unfortunate part of being a pro athlete.”
No Sharks player has more points in the last 14 years than Couture, who first broke into the NHL in 2009. Couture enters this season with 323 goals and 700 points in 923 career NHL games.
Couture played all 82 games for the Sharks last season and had 27 goals and 67 points, his highest individual totals since the 2018-19 season.
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