Meier, Couture Not Worried About Trade Rumors Surrounding Sharks

The San Jose Sharks aren’t showing any worry about the trade rumors surrounding them.

Yesterday, Pierre LeBrun reported on TSN’s “Insider Trading” that “the Sharks have let it be known that they’re willing to listen on pretty much every player on their roster other than perhaps Tomas Hertl.”

REPORT: Sharks “Willing to Listen” on Every Player Except Hertl

“It’s a business,” San Jose Sharks captain Logan Couture said. “You play sports, you understand changes happen. But for me personally, I’ve learned to stop listening to the media.”

Couture, who’s in the fourth season of an eight-year contract that comes with a three-team trade clause, says he hasn’t had any discussions with GM Mike Grier about the report.

“I think your play dictates what a general manager does,” Couture said of the 3-7-0 Sharks. “If we win hockey games, you force management’s hand to add pieces. That’s all we can do, control what we can control, go out and work hard and try to win hockey games.”

Pending RFA Timo Meier, perhaps surprisingly, was not included with Hertl on the Sharks’ “keep” list, at least according to LeBrun. Meier is off to a slow start, finally scoring his first goal of the year last night, but the 26-year-old led the team in goals and points last year, garnering his first All-Star Game nod.

“If that’s the situation, you guys know it, I know it. It’s not worrying me,” Meier offered. “My worry is to play my best hockey.”

Meanwhile, head coach David Quinn says he hasn’t had conversations with Grier about already breaking up the 2022-23 San Jose Sharks, just 10 games into the season.

“When you’re the general manager, I’m sure you’re talking to all [the GMS] – I’ve never been one – but I’m assuming that you’re talking all the time and throwing ideas and potential trades,” Quinn noted. “It’s just pro sports.”