The San Jose Sharks will certainly welcome again not only one however two facilities Saturday night time after they tackle the Anaheim Geese. The crew introduced that it has activated Logan Couture and Nico Sturm off injured reserve as anticipated. To make room on the energetic roster, middle Mikael Granlund and defenseman Ty Emberson have been transferred to IR, strikes that have been prompt as probably on Friday.
Couture has missed the complete season with what beforehand had been an undisclosed damage. Saturday, he instructed reporters together with Max Miller of The Hockey Information that he had been coping with osteitis pubis. He twice tried to come back again from this already however suffered setbacks every time, leading to cortisone photographs, prolonged relaxation and a special coaching routine because the crew tried to determine the right way to greatest deal with the damage.
The 34-year-old is coming off of one among his greatest seasons offensively as through the previous marketing campaign he recorded 67 factors whereas enjoying in all 82 video games for under the second time of his profession. A 14-year veteran, some have puzzled if Couture might be a commerce candidate in some unspecified time in the future with San Jose clearly in a full-scale rebuild. He’ll must exhibit not solely that he’s absolutely wholesome however that he’s additionally nonetheless able to producing at a high degree as Couture has three years left on his contract after this one with a $8M cap cost. The Sharks, in the meantime, solely have one wage retention slot remaining by way of the top of subsequent season.
However, his return will likely be a welcome one for a crew whose offense has struggled mightily this season, recording simply 89 targets in 45 video games, placing the Sharks lifeless final within the league in that division. Couture is anticipated to play alongside Alexander Barabanov and Fabian Zetterlund in his debut.
As for Sturm, the 28-year-old has been out for greater than a month after re-aggravating a wrist damage. He has performed in 26 video games to date and whereas he solely has two targets and two assists, he’s among the many NHL’s leaders in faceoff share, checking in at simply over 62%. With faceoffs and penalty killing being components that groups usually attempt to improve earlier than the commerce deadline, it’s attainable that Sturm, who has one 12 months left after this one at $2M, might be somebody that groups inquire about within the coming weeks.
