Sharks' Couture out indefinitely after leg surgery

San Jose Sharks forward Logan Couture is out indefinitely after having surgery Thursday to repair a small arterial bleed in his right leg, general manager Doug Wilson said in a statement released by the Sharks on Friday.

Couture sustained what the Sharks called a lower-body injury Wednesday during a 4-3 overtime loss to the Edmonton Oilers. He left the game at 12:52 of the second period after playing 9:19 in 11 shifts.

It was Couture's second game since returning to the lineup after missing 23 games with a fractured fibula at the ankle.

"In Wednesday night's game in Edmonton, Logan suffered trauma to his right thigh, creating a Charley-horse effect which prohibited him from returning to the game," Wilson said. "Upon returning to San Jose, it was discovered that there was a small arterial bleed in the area. Last night, Logan underwent a successful procedure in San Jose to close the artery and is expected to make a full recovery. At this time, there is no projected time frame for his return to the ice but we do not expect this to be a long-term recovery. Fortunately, this injury is completely unrelated to his previous ankle injury."

Couture tweeted, "It has been a very difficult 4-month stretch personally. Really just a quick thanks to everyone for the support through this, means a lot."

It has been a very difficult 4 month stretch personally. Really just a quick thanks to everyone for the support through this, means a lot.

— Logan Couture (@Logancouture) December 11, 2015

On Oct. 15, during a practice at Prudential Center in Newark, N.J., Couture fell and injured his ankle. He had one assist in three games before being being sidelined. He returned against the Calgary Flames on Tuesday and had an assist in 12:38 of ice time.

"It's unfortunate for Logan," Sharks coach Peter DeBoer told the San Jose Mercury News. "This is a guy that worked his tail off to get back. Another fluky thing he's dealing with. But when it rains it pours. Hopefully this will be the end of it and we'll have a healthy Logan Couture in the second half once he gets through it."

DeBoer said Couture began having issues with his thigh during the flight from Edmonton to San Jose after the game.

"There was some slow bleeding in there, and as it pooled it became worse and more dangerous," DeBoer said. "Thankfully our trainers recognized that and got it taken care of.

"It was a lot of Charley-horse type symptoms. I think the red flag was he didn't remember really getting hit hard in that area. With that type of swelling, you would normally remember getting hit like that."

The Sharks recalled forward Ryan Carpenter from San Jose of the American Hockey League. He has two goals and a Barracudas-high 18 points in 20 AHL games.

At practice Friday, Tomas Hertl took Couture's spot at second-line center between Patrick Marleau and Joe Pavelski according to the Mercury News. Other lines had Joe Thornton between Melker Karlsson and Tommy Wingels; Chris Tierney centered Joonas Donskoi and Joel Ward; and Carpenter was with Dainius Zubrus and Mike Brown.

The Sharks did have defenseman Marc-Edouard Vlasic at practice. He missed the past three games because of a lower-body injury. Vlasic said Friday he's feeling better but won't play until he's 100 percent. The Sharks play Saturday at home against the Minnesota Wild (10:30 p.m. ET; CSN-CA, FS-N).