SAN JOSE – San Jose Sharks captain Logan Couture is potentially facing another time-consuming rehabilitation from a debilitating lower-body injury that cost him the first 45 games of the year but said Monday he wants to return before the end of the regular season.
Injured before the start of training camp in September, Couture was diagnosed with osteitis pubis, inflammation in the joint between a person’s left and right pubic bones. After taking months to recover, Couture made his season debut for the Sharks on Jan. 20 at home against Anaheim.
But Couture said he started to feel some discomfort almost right away, and the injury continued to worsen during a stretch in which he and the Sharks played six games in 11 days at the end of January before the NHL All-Star break.
Couture said after San Jose’s game in Anaheim on Jan. 31 — the last game before the break — he didn’t feel well for at least two days.
“It got it got pretty bad,” Couture said.
Couture also endured setbacks from the injury in the fall when he was trying to get back, and wondered at times whether he would be able to play in the NHL again.
Couture’s outlook wasn’t much better this time.
“I was devastated. It sucked,” said Couture, who has 701 points in 933 career NHL games over 15 seasons.
“I thought it was past it. But like I said, as I started to play a little bit more, got more sore and more sore and more sore. Even on days when I didn’t skate and off days, it was getting worse.
“It’s never a good sign. I woke up and couldn’t get out of bed, couldn’t move for a bit. I knew what it was, obviously, this time, but it definitely wasn’t much easier.”
Couture said he is continuing to see a San Francisco-based physiotherapist and is at the point now where he’s “just trying to get back to feeling good away from hockey and day-to-day life stuff.”
Couture said he resumed off-ice workouts roughly two weeks ago but as of now, has no timeline to skate again. He emphasized, though, that has not entertained any thoughts of having surgery.
The Sharks, all but mathematically eliminated from playoff contention going into Tuesday’s game against Timo Meier and the New Jersey Devils, have just 26 games remaining before the end of the regular season on April 18.
Asked if he has considered shutting himself down for the remainder of the regular season to get ready for camp in the fall, Couture said, “That thought hasn’t crossed my mind.
“Just trying to feel better every day when I wake up and come in and get some work done, see how I feel when I go home,” Couture said. “It’s just kind of a day-by-day thing right now.”
Couture made an impact in the six games he played. He had one just assist and seven shots, but averaged 18:45 in ice time per game — just 23 seconds less than last season — and the Sharks went 4-1-1 with him in the lineup.
Since their return from the NHL All-Star break and their bye week, the Sharks, without Couture and fellow injured centerman Tomas Hertl, are 1-4-0 with a season record of 15-36-5.
“It’s a tough injury,” Couture said. “It’s the way these things go, unfortunately. Just continue to work and try and get better. It’s so tough because I felt so good going into those games, was skating hard, and felt like myself on the ice. So, it’s tough.”
Hertl had a procedure done on Feb. 12 to clean out loose cartilage in his left knee and, like Couture, wants to be back before the end of the regular season.
For the time being, the Sharks have Mikael Granlund centering the top line with Anthony Duclair and Fabian Zetterlud and William Eklund centering the second line with Luke Kunin and Filip Zadina.
The Sharks have never had Couture, Hertl, Granlund, and depth center and Stanley Cup champion Nico Sturm all in the lineup at the same time this season.
With the March 8 trade deadline looming, and by the time Couture may be healthy enough to return, pending unrestricted free agents like Duclair, Mike Hoffman, Kevin Labanc, and Alexander Barabanov might be on other teams.
Couture and Granlund, who is signed through next season but could be moved, have not played in the same game this season.
“Anytime you go down with any type of injury, especially an injury like that where there’s so much uncertainty, it sucks,” Duclair said about Couture. “Especially a guy like that, who’s been successful for so long and it just looks like it comes easy for him.
“That’s a guy that I was looking forward to playing with all year. I texted him that over the summer. It’s tough not having him in the lineup. He’s our captain, he’s our leader and that definitely hurts the room a little bit. At certain times during the year when we kind of needed that boost or that spark, he’s a guy who would light up the room and be a game changer at times. Obviously, we miss him a lot.”
