The Sharks are hitting the road for a six-game road trip and they’re bringing along Logan Couture. While he will be present during the trip, Couture will not be practicing with the team or playing in any games. The 26-year-old forward has been out since Oct. 15th, when an unfortunate collision with Tomas Hertl during practice at the Prudential Center in preparation for a game against the New Jersey Devils left him with a fractured right fibula. Couture underwent surgery two days after the incident on Oct. 17th and has been in recovery since.
The original timeline for Couture’s return was hopeful and suggested that he would be ready to hit the ice again after 4-to-6 weeks rest. The four-weeks marker has come and gone and while Couture has said that he is “definitely making progress,” he’s not yet ready to be on skates. He was seen hobbling gracefully around in a boot last week, but was reportedly walking around without the boot on at the Sharks practice facility on Wednesday.
Couture spoke CSNCA about a week ago and told reporters, “I don’t know the time when I’m going to be back playing, skating, or anything like that.”
It seems as if Couture isn’t interested in offering any sort of false hope in regards to speed of his recovery, regardless of how anxious fans are to see him back on the ice. The Sharks have gone 4-8-0 since Couture has been out. The Ontario-native was just named one of the two Sharks alternate captains along with Joe Thornton prior the start of this season. He only played three games before injury occurred in New Jersey. The injury to Couture stunned the Sharks and left Peter DeBoer and the rest of the coaching staff scrambling to find a way to fill the void that Couture left in the second line.
It doesn’t look like the Sharks will be getting Couture back any time soon, but it’s somewhat comforting to know that he’ll be with the team while they travel. Maybe he can offer some of his sage wisdom in the form of a few Drake lyrics to give the Sharks a little encouragement on the road. More than a speedy recovery, the Sharks need a Couture who will comeback one-hundred percent healthy if they want to be serious contenders come mid-winter.
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