Hockey History
Couture Announces End of Playing Career
San Jose Sharks captain Logan Couture is officially stepping away from hockey.
“My career of playing hockey has come to an end. I’m not physically able to play anymore,” Couture announced at a press conference held at SAP Center on Tuesday. “I loved and cherished every single moment that I got to play in this league. The NHL is everything that I thought it would be when I was a kid.”
Couture – who has captained the team since 2019 – has 933 games played in the NHL, all with the San Jose Sharks. He amassed 323 goals and 378 assists in those games. But he will be best remembered for his playoff performances, where his 101 points in 116 post-season contests between 2010 to 2019 is fourth only to future Hall of Famers Sidney Crosby, Patrick Kane, and Evgeni Malkin.
However, in the summer of 2023, Couture was felled by osteitis pubis, a deep groin issue that has sidelined him for most of the last two years.
The 36-year-old rehabbed hard this past summer, but never came close to even skating.
“I just didn’t think that I was going to get better, and I didn’t think I was going to get back on the ice. I don’t know if I will in the future, definitely not to play any games,” he said, “but hopefully, one day, I can take my kids out on the ice and skate.”
As for the Sharks next year, because Couture did not officially retire, his $8 million AAV will remain on the books for each of the last two years of his contract, which ends in 2026-27. If Couture had officially retired, he’d be walking away from $13 million cash over the next two seasons.
Because of the exploding salary cap and the unlikelihood of San Jose fielding a Cup contender in the next two years, that contract shouldn’t be any issue. And if it is, the Sharks can put Couture on LTIR or trade the contract.
But that’s the nitty-gritty, today was about the many good memories.
During his opening statement, Couture reflected on some of his most memorable moments of his career, from his NHL debut in Philadelphia to the Game Seven comeback against the Vegas Golden Knights in the 2019 Playoffs.
Sharks players, past and present, attended the press conference, including Joe Thornton, Macklin Celebrini, and Will Smith. It appeared as if the entire current Sharks team and coaching staff were in attendance.
And those who couldn’t make it – Doug Wilson, Todd McLellan, Pete DeBoer, Dan Boyle, Brent Burns, Joe Pavelski, and Tomas Hertl – recorded tribute messages for Couture.
While Couture is stopping his playing career with no future professional plans in mind, Grier made clear he’ll always have a job with the San Jose Sharks if he wants one.
Couture saved his message to the fans for last.
“First time I came to San Jose in 2007, I could just see and feel the passion that Sharks fans had,” Couture said. “I just want to say thank you for making SAP Center the hardest building for other teams to come into and play against us. You asked players that played from the mid-2000’s to a couple years ago what their goal was in the first 10 minutes of the game, and it was just survive, try not to get down by two or three. And that’s a credit to the fans. It’s a credit to our team. Thank you, guys.”
