2023-08-10 02:37:48
The San Jose Sharks are on the right track, Logan Couture believes. The captain intends to stay with the team as long as he feels that it is trying to take the necessary steps to find the playoffs.
One would think that Couture, who had the good years of the club with Joe Thornton, Patrick Marleau, Joe Pavelski and other Brent Burns in the 2010s, would be tempted to leave the ship following several years of failure. After all, the 34-year-old center has never won the Stanley Cup.
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It would be misunderstanding the Ontarian. It is with the Sharks that Couture wants to find the road to success.
“If it was a five, six or seven year rebuild then obviously there would have been change. But I believe that [le directeur général Mike Grier] did a good job of giving us back tools with some very good draft picks. It’s hard to predict what will happen in a few years, but I’m excited for this season. I want to be in San Jose to make things happen,” he promised in an interview with NHL.com on Wednesday.
San Jose lost its top defenseman, Erik Karlsson, by trade on Sunday. Several veterans like Couture, Marc-Édouard Vlasic and Tomas Hertl are still there to lead the team and young stars in the making are knocking at the door. The 2023-2024 season might be the hatching season for a William Eklund or a Thomas Bordeleau.
With the family
Since his debut in the National League in 2009-2010, Couture has only known the Sharks. He became their captain in 2019 and it is without doubt with them that he will play his 1000th career game in a few months. Regularly among his most productive forwards, he has exactly 700 points to his name.
Obviously, he and his family are committed to California, but the victories will have to come. He might certainly be tempted to look elsewhere at the end of his current contract, in the summer of 2027, if the Sharks’ plan were to fall apart.
“Change is difficult, and if the day comes when it has to happen, it is because I will have judged that it was better for my family and me. I’m sure towards the end of my career my on-ice responsibilities will have lessened, but right now I want to do everything I can to help the team and be the best player I can be for the Sharks.” he assured.
“It’s hard to lose,” Couture continued. Losing is not the reason you play hockey. You play every night to win and [l’entraîneur-chef David Quinn] is a guy who really wants to win. For a majority of our games last year, from start to finish we gave a very good effort even if we finished where we finished.
With only 22 wins in 82 games, the lowest total of the entire Bettman circuit, the Sharks took the penultimate rung of the Pacific Division standings. They’ve missed the playoffs for the past four years.
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