The San Jose Sharks have been cruising along this season, but they may have experienced their first real bump in the road. According to Curtis Pashelka of the San Jose Mercury News, Sharks forward Logan Couture suffered an apparent right-foot injury during San Jose’s practice in Newark earlier today.
Saw Logan Couture on crutches leaving the Prudential Center with protective boot on right foot. Don't have many other details #SJSharks
— Curtis Pashelka (@CurtisPashelka) October 15, 2015
The team hasn’t released any additional details, but according to Kevin Kurz of Comcast Sportsnet Bay Area, Couture is under evaluation per general manager Doug Wilson. This obviously isn’t good news for a San Jose team that has been great through their first three games to begin the 2015-16 season.
It appears Couture was injured during a normal practice drill, and had to be helped off the ice by his teammates.
Part of the reason for San Jose’s success to this point has been the ability for Peter DeBoer to rely on rolling all four of his forward lines. If Couture is out for any period of time, this will affect how DeBoer’s lineup shakes out.
With Couture leaving in a walking boot, I’d imagine his status for tomorrow night’s tilt against the New Jersey Devils is in question, along with his availability for the rest of the road trip with games against the New York Islanders and New York Rangers still on tap.
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Again, the Sharks are still in evaluation mode, but I’d expect Ben Smith to check into the lineup tomorrow, likely on the fourth line, with Chris Tierney or Tomas Hertl bumping up into the second line center role. DeBoer could also move Patrick Marleau to center and bring someone up on the wing.
Another option could be recalling a forward, potentially Nikolay Goldobin, from the San Jose Barracuda if Couture is going to be out for a while.
Couture was named as one of San Jose’s two alternate captains this season, and the 26-year-old has posted one assist through the first three games with a plus-one rating while averaging 17:52 of ice time per game skating alongside Marleau and Joel Ward.
At this point, things are still up in the air, but stay tuned for updates regarding Logan Couture as more information becomes available.
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