Grier stands by Couture with long-term playing outlook in question

SAN JOSE – San Jose Sharks captain Logan Couture is focusing on the present as he tries to return from a debilitating groin injury that robbed him of 76 games last season.

After all, Couture’s future holds too many unknowns.

Close to eight months after his last game, Couture said Thursday, as the Sharks opened training camp, that he still has no clear idea when he might be able to resume skating as he’s expected to begin the season on injured reserve.

Couture missed all but six regular season games in 2023-24 with osteitis pubis — or inflammation in the joint between the left and right pubic bones. After being forced to sit out all of training camp and the Sharks’ first 45 games, Couture returned to the lineup and played six straight games from Jan. 20-31 before being shelved again.

Couture would sit out the rest of the season and said in April that he hoped to resume skating sometime in July. However, general manager Mike Grier noted late last month that Couture had yet to get on the ice.

That has remained the case as Couture and the Sharks’ medical staff continue to try various treatment methods.

“There’s no immediate plan to get onto the ice,” Couture said.

The Sharks host the St. Louis Blues on Oct. 10.

“I’ve played hockey for 30-plus years, and when it just ends abruptly, it’s difficult, especially when you don’t really have a choice. The body just breaks down,” Couture said. “But that’s the way professional sports, or sports in general, normally work, not always injuries, sometimes other reasons. But that’s the situation I’m in.”

Is Couture concerned that he might not play another game?

“Honestly, day by day is how I’m taking it,” Couture said. “Like I said, there’s been different ups and downs, mentally, physically, throughout this entire thing. I’ve had tough days. I’ve had good days. So that’s really not in my mind. It’s come to the rink, try and get through as much rehab stuff as I can, see how I feel. Go home, see my family.”

Couture, 35, is entering his 16th NHL season and sixth as the team’s captain. He is fifth on the Sharks’ all-time list with 933 career games and is fourth all-time with 701 points.

Couture’s unavailability had some Sharks fans on social media wondering if another player should temporarily become the team’s captain. Grier, though, said unequivocally Thursday that there will be no change in that regard.

“No, we’ll have our leadership group, and Logan’s the captain of the team,” Grier said.

The Sharks will have three alternate captains — Tyler Toffoli, Barclay Goodrow, and Mario Ferraro — this season with Grier and Warsofsky still deciding whether to name a fourth. Ferraro will be entering his fourth season as an alternate captain.

Last year, Tomas Hertl wore an ‘A’ for the Sharks until he was traded to the Vegas Golden Knights in March. Luke Kunin and Mikael Granlund were then named alternate captains.