SAN JOSE – San Jose Sharks centers Logan Couture and Tomas Hertl both sat out Sunday’s practice and are considered day-to-day with their respective injuries, as it remains unclear whether either player will be ready once the team resumes its schedule later this week.
Sharks coach David Quinn said Couture’s ailment is related to the lower body injury he had earlier this season, causing him to miss the first three-plus months. Hertl was battling a lower-body ailment that caused him to miss the Sharks’ last two games at the end of last month.
Couture missed extensive time with an injury described by the veteran centerman in January as osteitis pubis, a condition that can result in debilitating groin or lower abdominal pain.
After a physically and mentally challenging rehabilitation, Couture returned to the Sharks on Jan. 20 for a game against the Anaheim Ducks. He has one assist in six games since his return, although the Sharks are 4-1-1 in that time.
“He’s had a long year in a lot of ways, and you just want to be cautious,” Quinn said of Couture, adding that when it comes to the captain potentially missing time, “I’m out of the guessing game. I don’t know. What I think is irrelevant. We’re just literally going to see if he can show up (Monday) and if he’s made more progress.”
It’s unclear, too, whether Hertl will be back on the ice for Monday’s practice. The Sharks are also scheduled to skate Tuesday in San Jose before they fly to Winnipeg to start a two-game road trip against the Jets. The Sharks also play in Calgary on Thursday.
Hertl missed the Sharks’ games against the Seattle Kraken on Jan. 30 and the Anaheim Ducks on Jan. 31. He attended the NHL All-Star festivities from Feb. 1-3 in Toronto and at less than full strength, played in the 3-on-3 tournament that saw his team with captain Connor McDavid make the final but lose to a team captained by Auston Matthews.
“We’ll see how he feels (Monday),” Quinn said of Hertl, who leads the Sharks with 15 goals and 34 points in 48 games.
The Sharks were looking forward to having a full complement of centermen available to them for the first time this season, as Hertl, Couture, Mikael Granlund and Nico Sturm have all had to miss at least some time this season.
Missing those players — and others — has clearly hurt the Sharks’ record, as they’ll enter Monday at 14-32-5, the second-worst mark in the NHL. San Jose, with 33 points, is two points ahead of Chicago (14-35-3).
“We’ve all talked about our situation,” Quinn said. “From an injury standpoint, and a couple of slumps we’ve had, it’s been a lot for our team and for our organization to handle. There’s nothing you can do about it, right? That’s life in the National Hockey League and nobody feels sorry for you.
“They keep getting up, people are going to try to get better and win hockey games and that’s what we have to do as well.”
Granlund was injured in a Jan. 16 game against the Chicago Blackhawks, the game before Couture returned, after he absorbed a shoulder-to-shoulder hit from forward MacKenzie Entwistle.
Granlund, who was back on the ice Sunday, said he initially thought the injury was a lot more serious than it was, even though he had to miss the last six games before the break.
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“Honestly, my first thoughts were, ‘Oh boy, it’s going to be a long one.’ But it ended up being not that bad,” Granlund said. “Missed some time and you never want to miss time but it could’ve been worse.”
Granlund said he’ll see how he feels after two more practices but is confident that he’ll be able to play Wednesday.
“I’m pretty sure I’ll be OK,” he said. “Just got to go through with (practice). It’s nothing. Like I said, it wasn’t anything serious, so only gonna miss a little bit of time.”
Please check back for updates to this story.