San Jose Sharks center Logan Couture is improving health-wise

SAN JOSE – San Jose Sharks captain Logan Couture took another step forward in his long recovery from a lower-body injury Tuesday as he participated in the team’s morning skate hours before its game against the Los Angeles Kings.

Couture hadn’t taken part in practice or a morning skate with the team since the start of training camp in September but got the go-ahead to join his teammates after he visited with a physical therapist in San Francisco on Monday.

“It’s been a long time for me to skate with the guys and take part in some drills with the team,” Couture said, “so I was very excited getting here this morning.”

Couture smiled as he was the first Sharks player on the ice Tuesday before he went through some drills. He was even on one of the team’s penalty-killing units as San Jose ran through power play exercises.

“He was almost as happy as his coaches were,” Sharks coach David Quinn said.

Couture remained on the ice after the main part of the morning skate was over and reported no issues afterward.

Couture taking part in drills this morning. Would be a surprise to see him play tonight, but, we shall see #SJSharks pic.twitter.com/tQUvjtEWIG

— Curtis Pashelka (@CurtisPashelka) December 19, 2023

Although there remains no timetable for Couture to return to playing in a game, he is slated to practice with the Sharks on Wednesday if his body responds well to Tuesday’s activity.

“Our goal is for me to get into practice and take that next step,” Couture said. “That’s all I’m focused on right now.”

During his often-frustrating recovery, Couture said there were times he doubted whether he could return to the NHL.

But Couture said he made significant progress with his injury earlier this month after the Sharks left for a six-game road trip in late November. Based on the suggestion of Sharks head athletic trainer Ray Tufts, Couture visited with the San Francisco-based physical therapist — whose name he wanted to keep private — four or five times a week.

“That’s kind of when I started to turn the corner with my rehab,” Couture said. “I’ve been going up to just San Francisco and putting a lot of work in there with the rehab and just something clicked. Started to feel a lot better, started to skate more often, felt way better on the ice, and didn’t aggravate my injury.

“That was kind of the point where I was hopeful that I was going to get over the hump. Because before that I really didn’t know. I would feel good. I would skate, then I would feel terrible and have to take weeks off. So, I hope this continues because I feel really good on the ice.”

Knowing how arduous this process has been for him, Couture’s teammates and coaches were happy to see him skate with the team again.

“It’s nice to see him back with the guys,” Sharks defenseman Marc-Edouard Vlasic said. “He’s been on his own for the last couple of months, so it’s nice to have him back.”

“As we’ve kept saying over the last three months, it’s day to day and it’s another step forward,” Quinn said. “He hasn’t had any setbacks here for the last few weeks, and that’s the goal every day. Take another step forward. It was another step forward today.”

Couture said he and the Sharks have not discussed any possible conditioning stint with the Barracuda. Players have to agree to be assigned on a conditioning loan, and Couture has not played AHL games in the past when he’s returned from extended absences.

Regardless, Couture is in a better place mentally than he was just a few weeks ago.

“It’s been a grind,” Couture said. “Tough days when you’re injured and you’re on your own, coming to the facility here, guys are on the road and you’ve got to turn the lights on, one other coach will come with you, and it’s lonely.

“But thankfully we’ve had a lot of good people here to try and keep me positive, skating with (Joe Thornton and Mike Ricci) the last two weeks has been very good for me. They’ve been positive. They’ve helped me along. I’ve been with them for a long time, many years.”