San Jose Sharks announce team leadership group for 2024-25 season
San Jose Sharks announce team leadership group for 2024-25 season
San Jose Sharks (@SanJoseSharks) Head Coach Ryan Warsofsky announced today that Logan Couture will continue to serve as Captain for the Sharks, the title he has held for the team since the start of the 2019-20 season.
Mario Ferraro will continue to serve as Alternate Captain and he will be joined by Barclay Goodrow, Mikael Granlund, Luke Kunin and Tyler Toffoli. Ferraro will wear an ‘A’ for all games, while Toffoli and Goodrow will serve as alternate captains for home games, and Granlund and Kunin serve as alternate captains for all road games. Last season, Granlund and Kunin wore the ‘A’ for the Sharks at the end of the year in select games.
“We’re extremely fortunate to have a terrific group of talented and high-character players to serve as our leadership group for the 2024-25 season, led by Logan Couture as our captain,” said Warsofsky. “Each of these players bring unique qualities and characteristics that not only show leadership by example but that will also serve as an extension of our coaching staff.”
Couture, 35, enters his 16th season as a member of the Sharks after being selected in the first round (9th overall) by San Jose in the 2007 NHL Draft. He missed much of the 2023-24 campaign due to injuries. In six games, he recorded one assist, and the team posted a 4-1-1 record.
Couture has skated in 933 career games for San Jose, compiling 701 points (323 goals, 378 assists) and ranks third in goals, fourth in points, and fifth in assists and games played on the franchise’s all-time list. Over the course of his career, the six-foot-one, 200-pound center was named to the NHL All-Rookie Team in 2010-11 after scoring 32 goals and finished second in Calder Trophy voting. He also represented San Jose in the 2012 All-Star game and is a two-time Sharks Player of the Year (2011-12; 2017-18).
Ferraro, 26, was previously named as an alternate captain on Oct. 15, 2021. Last season, Ferraro appeared in 78 games and recorded 21 points (three goals, 18 assists). He finished the season leading Sharks defensemen in points and assists and ranked eighth in the league among all skaters in blocked shots (195). He appeared in his milestone 300th NHL game on Feb. 14, 2024 at Winnipeg Jets, and became the third blueliner from his draft class to appear in at least 300 NHL games.
Over the course of his NHL career, all with San Jose, Ferraro has appeared in 330 games and recorded 74 points (12 goals, 62 assists). He was named Sharks Rookie of the Year in 2019-20, and also awarded “Media Good Guy” in the 2023-24 season.
Granlund, 32, was the Sharks leading scorer in the 2023-24 season with 60 points (12 goals, 48 assists) in 69 games. He set a personal career best and franchise best point streak by a forward, recording a point in 13 consecutive games (two goals, 13 assists) from Mar. 23 through Apr. 18 to finish the season, which included a nine-game assist streak (10 assists) from Apr. 1-18. He reached the 50-point and 40-assist mark for the fourth time in his career. In December, he led all NHL skaters in road points (16) and was tied for third overall in assists (14), posting six multi-point performances in the calendar month. By the end of the season, he was named the Sharks Player of the Year and was also named the NHLPA Player of the Week for the week of Dec. 7.
In his career, Granlund has appeared in 819 NHL games with Minnesota, Nashville, Pittsburgh, and the Sharks, recording 544 points (157 goals, 387 assists). Among Finnish-born skaters, he ranks ninth all-time in assists and 13th in points.
Toffoli, 32, joins the Sharks after signing a four-year contract on July 1, 2024. Last year with the New Jersey Devils and Winnipeg Jets, Toffoli registered 55 points (33 goals, 22 assists) in 79 games. He logged his second consecutive season with 30 or more goals and surpassed the 50-point threshold for the third time in his career, including for the second straight season. He appeared in his 800th NHL game on Mar. 21 at New Jersey.
Toffoli has appeared in 812 NHL career games with Los Angeles, Vancouver, Montreal, Calgary, New Jersey, and Winnipeg, scoring 521 points (260 goals, 261 assists). He won the Stanley Cup with Los Angeles (2014), and internationally has appeared with Team Canada in the World Championship twice (2015, 2023), winning a Gold Medal in both tournaments. He served as captain for the squad in the 2023 tournament and finished with six points.
Kunin, 26, appeared in 77 games last season with the Sharks, recording 18 points (11 goals, seven assists). He finished the season leading Sharks forwards in hits (165) and appeared in his 300th NHL game on Nov. 20 at Vancouver Canucks. At the end of the season, Kunin was the club’s nominee for the King Clancy Award in recognition for his work with the Luke Kunin Type 1 Diabetes (LKT1D) Foundation, which raised more than $11,000 last year for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF).
In his career, Kunin has appeared in 359 games with Minnesota, Nashville and San Jose, scoring 124 points (62 goals, 62 assists). Kunin represented Team USA at the 2024 World Championship.
Goodrow, 31, returns to San Jose for his second stint with the club after previously playing for the franchise from 2014-20. Last season with the New York Rangers, Goodrow appeared in 80 games, recording 12 points (four goals, eight assists). He ranked fourth on the team in faceoff percentage (54%).
Over his NHL career with San Jose, Tampa Bay, and New York, Goodrow has accumulated 572 games and 169 points (60 goals, 109 assists). Goodrow is a two-time Stanley Cup Champion with Tampa Bay (2020, 2021), and is famously known for his Game Seven, game-winning overtime goal while as a member of the Sharks to clinch the 2019 First Round Series win over Vegas – after the Sharks trailed the series three-games-to-one and trailed in Game Seven 3-0 entering the third period.
Previous Sharks captains include: Doug Wilson (1991-1993), Bob Errey (1995-1995), Jeff Odgers (1995-1996), Todd Gill (1996-1998), Owen Nolan (1998-2003), Patrick Marleau (2004-2009), Rob Blake (2019-10), Joe Thornton (2010-2014), Joe Pavelski (2015-2019), Couture (2019-present).