Couture at the end of his career - Marin Independent Journal

SHARKS

Couture at the end of his career

He’ll announce Tuesday he can no longer compete

By Curtis Pashelka

Bay Area News Group

SAN JOSE >> San Jose Sharks captain Logan Couture — arguably the organization’s top all-time playoff performer — will hold a press conference today to announce he cannot continue his playing career due to a groin injury he has had for almost two years, a source confirmed Monday afternoon.

Dealing with an often painful injury called osteitis pubis, Couture, 36, has not played an NHL game this season and has been out of the Sharks’ lineup since Jan. 31, 2024.After playing just six games and missing the final three-plus months of the 2023-24 season, Couture had hoped to resume skating last summer and come back this season. But while still around the team for at least the first half of this season, Couture has been unable to resume on-ice training.

The Cleveland Clinic describes osteitis pubis as “inflammation in the joint between the left and right pubic bones.” The condition can be debilitating at times, and Couture has previously said that there were days early last season when he struggled to get out of bed.

Couture and Sharks general manager Mike Grier will hold a joint press conference today at SAP Center at 1:30 p.m. Daily Faceoff’s Frank Seravalli first reported the details of Couture’s announcement.

Couture is not expected to announce his retirement today, only that he cannot continue playing. Couture is in the sixth year of an eight-year, $64 million contract he signed with the Sharks in July 2018, and is still owed $13 million in salary over the next two seasons.

By not retiring, Couture’s $8 million salary cap hit will remain on the Sharks’ books in each of the next two years, but the team also avoids a costly cap recapture penalty from the NHL. For the next two seasons, the Sharks can list Couture on either injured reserve or long-term injured reserve.

Couture, who signed his contract a year before he was slated to become an unrestricted free agent, is owed $7 million next season and $6 million in 2026-27, when his deal expires.

Couture was drafted ninth overall by the Sharks in 2007, started his NHL career in 2009, and has played in 933 games in the NHL, all with San Jose. On the Sharks’ all-time list, Couture is fifth in games played, fourth in points (701), third in goals (323), and fifth in assists (378).

In his rookie season in 2010-2011, Couture had 32 goals and 56 points in 79 games and finished second in Calder Trophy voting. His rookie goal total remains a Sharks record.

Just as importantly for the Sharks was Couture’s repeated ability to be at his best during the postseason.

While Couture averaged .751 points per game during the regular season during his 15-year NHL playing career, he also scored 101 points in 116 career playoff games, an average of .870 points per game that’s tops in team history.

With Couture, the Sharks made the Western Conference Final in 2010, 2011, 2016 and 2019. In the Sharks’ run to the Stanley Cup Final in 2016, Couture led the NHL with 30 points in 24 playoff games. He was the Sharks’ co-leader in playoff goals in 2011 and 2013, and had 14 goals and 20 points in 20 playoff games in 2019.

During the greatest playoff comeback in team history on April 23, 2019, when the Sharks played the Vegas Golden Knights in Game 7 of their opening round series, Couture scored twice in the third period to help erase a three-goal deficit. The game would go into overtime, where Barclay Goodrow scored at the 18:19 mark to give the Sharks a heartstopping 5-4 win.

After longtime Sharks forward Joe Pavelski signed with the Dallas Stars as a free agent in 2019, Couture became the 10th captain in team history. But with several large contracts on the books, little cap flexibility, and a depleted prospect pool, the Sharks were no longer in a position to be a playoff contender.

The Sharks began a roster teardown in 2022 in Grier’s first season and have now gone six straight years without making the playoffs.

Even though he could not play, Couture stayed involved with the Sharks until at least January. Asked about Couture around that time, coach Ryan Warsofsky said the captain had been a regular presence around the Sharks this season, talking to the team’s younger players such as Will Smith and Macklin Celebrini at the practice facility, and providing a valuable resource to the coaching staff.

Couture was not at SAP Center on March 14 when the Sharks took their team photo. Warsofsky said Couture was in the area but could not be at the arena due to a personal matter.

Speculation grew that Couture had a falling out with the Sharks after he reportedly unfollowed, then re-followed, the team on his official Instagram account. Asked about this recently, Warsofsky said, “I think we’re trying to make a story out of nothing.”