from Ryan Kennedy of The Hockey News,

At 29, Couture is coming off one of his best offensive seasons ever. He set a new high with 34 goals and led the Sharks in scoring during the playoffs. The crafty pivot has made a habit of showing up large in the post-season lately, with 45 points in his past 40 playoff games.

Wilson believes there are young players in the Sharks pipeline who are ready for a crack at the big time, so he didn’t add any veterans in the off-season (the Mike Hoffman trade being a quick-witted ruse that shuttled the scorer to Florida from Ottawa). Couture isn’t alone in being a leader – along with Thornton, you’ve still got Burns and Joe Pavelski around – but his time soaking up experience from those players and Marleau has come in handy.

“I got to sit beside Patty for eight years and just watch him,” Couture said. “You learn so much. A guy that sticks around the league for 19 years; they’re doing a lot of things right.”

In a Western Conference that seems very wide open right now, the Sharks are poised to be in the thick of the hunt once again. They’ve got skill at every position and the dressing room by all accounts is a great place to work. Power forward Evander Kane found that to be the case after he came over from Buffalo and he ended up signing an extension earlier this spring. Kane has had conflicts before, so why has San Jose worked so far?

“Our dressing room is very welcoming, very open,” Couture said. “There are a lot of different characters, whether it’s Brent Burns or ‘Jumbo’ or ‘Kaner.’ No one judges him for what happened in the past. We judge him for what he brings to the rink for the Sharks and we’re happy to have him.”

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