SAN JOSE — San Jose Sharks captain Logan Couture is now considered week-to-week after he had another setback with a lower-body injury that cost him the first half of the season.
Couture missed extensive time, from the start of training camp to the middle of last month, with an injury described by the veteran centerman in January as osteitis pubis, a condition that can result in debilitating groin or lower abdominal pain.
“We’re very cautious with him,” Sharks coach David Quinn said after Monday’s practice. “A little bit of a setback.”
Quinn said Couture has not been ruled out for the remainder of the season and is not aware of any talk about the Guelph, Ontario native needing surgery. The Sharks (14-32-5) have 31 games remaining, with their last game coming on April 18.
After a physically and mentally challenging rehabilitation, Couture returned to the Sharks on Jan. 20 for a game against the Anaheim Ducks. He had one assist in the ensuing six games and averaged 18:45 in ice time as the Sharks went 4-1-1 with him in the lineup.
Quinn said that Couture didn’t re-aggravate the injury while skating or training, but “just woke up and didn’t feel good.”
Couture previously had setbacks with the injury in early October just before the start of the regular season, and again in late October, which caused him to stay off the ice for approximately one month. It was around that time when he had doubts about whether he would be able to play again.
“The flare-ups were the worst part,” Couture said. “I couldn’t get out of bed. I couldn’t walk around my house. I couldn’t do anything. I couldn’t spend time with my kid.”
The Sharks will now be without their top two centers for an indefinite period after it was announced earlier Monday that Tomas Hertl is expected to miss several weeks after he has surgery to remove loose cartilage in his left knee.
“Both of these guys, on top of being really good players, this organization means so much to them,” Quinn said of Couture and Hertl. “They’re both kind of throwbacks in a lot of ways and they don’t want to miss a game and they take an awful lot of responsibility on their shoulders.
“These guys are not only hurting physically but hurting mentally because they’re not going to be able to play.”
The Sharks are expecting Mikael Granlund (upper body) to come off injured reserve before their game in Winnipeg against the Jets on Wednesday, helping to lessen the blow of losing Hertl and Couture for an extended period.
Granlund, injured by a shoulder-to-shoulder check in a Jan. 16 game in Chicago, was a full participant in practice for the second straight day Monday, as he skated on a line with Anthony Duclair and Fabian Zetterlund.
Please check back for updates on this developing story.
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