San Jose Sharks forward Logan Couture is expected to announce the end of his playing career at a press conference on Tuesday. The 15 year veteran was diagnosed with osteitis pubis last season, which is a condition which causes painful inflammation in the hips and groin area. It is commonly found in athletes due to the repetitive usage of the hips, pelvis and groin.
The last time Couture took to the ice was January 31st, 2024, as he’s now spent over a year attempting to treat and rehab his body in an effort to resume playing. However, with his lower body not responding to treatment, both he and the Sharks front office felt it was best to add some clarity to his situation moving forward.
The 36 year old will still count for $8M against the Sharks salary cap for the next two seasons, as he has two years remaining on an 8 year, $64M contract extension signed in 2018. In terms of real money, Couture will be paid out $13M over the next two NHL campaigns.
While the club and player alike are not calling it a “retirement” per se, it effectively is the announcement of the end of Couture’s playing days in the Bay Area. It’s currently unclear if the former 1st round draft pick will take on additional off ice roles with the club in the near future or not.
During a January town-hall meeting with Sharks season-ticket holders, Sharks GM Mike Grier said he wouldn’t make any change to the captaincy role, even with Couture sidelined. “As long as he’s here, he’ll be the captain, and I’m not someone who’s going to go out and feel like there’s a need to name a new captain the next day,” Grier told reporters. “All that stuff is earned over time, and people lead in their own ways. I think we have a good group.”
Couture finishes his NHL career with 701 points (323G, 378A) across 933 regular season games, with another 101 points (48G, 53A) across 116 NHL playoff games. Those figures put him 4th all-time in franchise scoring.
A three-time 30-plus goal scorer, Couture notched a career-high 70 points in 2018-19 after posting 27 goals and 43 assists in 81 contests.
Photo: Derek Ortiz. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.