Report: Logan Couture Trade Talks To Pick Up; 3 Teams Named

San Jose Sharks captain Logan Couture was only able to play six games this past season due to a hip/groin injury. He's expected to start skating again in July, and according to insider David Pagnotta, trade talks will ramp up once again, assuming he's looking healthy enough to be ready for next season.

Pagnotta even lists three teams that had interest in him during the 2023-24 season, even while he was out for the year, and figures talks could resume.

If he is healthy enough, I believe the San Jose Sharks will entertain some trade discussions with other teams regarding their captain Logan Couture. There were other teams last season—Buffalo (Sabres), Nashville (Predators), Ottawa (Senators), that inquired about him. I think that will be revived this off-season once they solidify his health status for next season.

After the end of the regular season, Couture said he hopes to be ready for training camp. The 35-year-old still has three seasons left on his $8 million AAV deal, so unless he proves himself fully healthy, it remains to be seen how much the Sharks can expect to get for their captain.

Couture is a 10-time 20-goal scorer, and as recently as 2022-23, he lit the lamp 27 times while adding 40 assists for 67 points in a full 82-game season.

The Sharks are into a full-on rebuild, and will be adding this year's No. 1 pick Macklin Celebrini to spearhead the effort. Although having a leader like Couture around to help show the young phenom the ropes wouldn't be a bad thing, it's hard to justify paying a 35-year-old that much money in the early stages of a rebuild. The team already moved on from Tomas Hertl and his six more seasons at $8.1M, dealing him to the Vegas Golden Knights at this year's deadline.

The Sabres and Senators are both much farther along in their bids to return to respectability and would be hoping that adding a veteran piece like Couture could help vault them into the playoffs.