Couture committed to Sharks following Karlsson trade

Logan Couture remains committed to the San Jose Sharks even after Erik Karlsson was traded to the Pittsburgh Penguins on Sunday.

The forward has played his entire 14-season NHL career for the Sharks, who finished seventh in the Pacific Division (22-44-16) last season and have not qualified for the Stanley Cup Playoffs since advancing to the Western Conference Final in 2019. Those results are what led Karlsson, who won the Norris Trophy as the League's top defenseman last season, to request a trade to a Stanley Cup contender in June.

Although Couture, who is 34, also understands that his window to win the Stanley Cup for the first time is closing, he likes the long-term vision created by general manager Mike Grier and wants to honor the remaining four seasons of an eight-year contract he signed on July 1, 2018.

"If I thought it was going to be a five-, six-, seven-year rebuild, then obviously things would change," said Couture, who has been the Sharks captain since the start of the 2019-20 season. "But I think Mike has done a good job of retooling [with] some really good (NHL Draft) picks. It's tough to predict what happens a couple of years from now, but I'm excited about this season. I want to turn this thing around here in San Jose. I think they have the management group to do it. They have a great coaching staff that's going to get things going."

Couture's perspective is similar to the one he had after the Sharks traded longtime defenseman Brent Burns to the Carolina Hurricanes on July 13, 2022, and forward Timo Meier to the New Jersey Devils on Feb. 26.

Part of that is due to his stability in the Bay Area. His fiancée, Brielle Eschen, also gave birth to the couple's first child, Kaden, on July 30, so there's no intention of following Karlsson's trade request for what might be one last chance at the Stanley Cup.

At least not yet.

"Change is hard, and if there ever comes a day where it has to happen and I think it's best for myself and my family, then we'll come to that," Couture said. "I'm sure down the road maybe my role diminishes on the ice, but for now I want to do whatever I can to help this team and be the best player that I can be for the Sharks."

Couture, who had 67 points (27 goals, 40 assists) in 82 games last season, won't be asked to do all of the heavy lifting, though, for San Jose this season.

The Sharks acquired goalie Mackenzie Blackwood from the Devils on June 27 and forward Anthony Duclair from the Florida Panthers on July 1, and signed forward Filip Zadina, the No. 6 pick in the 2018 NHL Draft, to a one-year contract on July 10 after he was placed on waivers and had his contract terminated by the Detroit Red Wings. They also acquired forwards Mikael Granlund and Mike Hoffman, defenseman Jan Rutta, who won the Stanley Cup twice with the Tampa Bay Lightning, and a conditional first-round pick in the 2024 NHL Draft in the three-team trade with the Penguins and Montreal Canadiens for Karlsson.

All of that has kept Couture encouraged.

"It's tough losing," Couture said. "Losing is not why you play the game of hockey. You play every night to win and [coach David Quinn] is a guy that wants to win very, very badly. For a majority of the games last year, top to bottom we gave a very good effort even though we ended up where we ended up.

"We're going to continue to do that. We all want to win games, and that's what we're going to try and do."