The Shanghai Dragons (; ) are a professional ice hockey team nominally based in Shanghai, China, and playing their home games at SKA Arena in Saint Petersburg. It is a member of the Tarasov Division in the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL). They joined the KHL as Kunlun Red Star prior to the 2016–17 season, moving to Shanghai on 7 August 2025.
History The team, originally known as Kunlun Red Star, was established as part of China's preparations for the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing. In March 2016, representatives of Kunlun Red Star and the KHL signed a protocol of intent to have a Chinese-based team enter the KHL. The protocol was signed by the representative from the Ice Hockey Federation of Russia Vladislav Tretiak, the chairman of the KHL Gennady Timchenko, and the board of Kunlun Red Star. In mid-April, the president of the International Ice Hockey Federation, René Fasel, expressed hope that this would help China bring their hockey to a higher level. However, despite the high ambitions, the team only made the playoffs once, in 2017, and stopped playing games in China starting in the 2019–20 season due to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic in the country.
After playing their games in Mytishchi Arena outside of Moscow since August 2020, the team announced they would play at SKA Arena in Saint Petersburg for the 2025–26 season, with the intent of returning to China the next year. On 7 August 2025, with Kunlun undergoing new ownership, they announced rebranding as the Shanghai Dragons, while still based at St. Petersburg. Former HC Vityaz executive Igor Varitsky was brought as Shanghai's new general manager, and on 13 August 2025 Gerard Gallant was hired to lead the team. The Shanghai Dragons played their first preseason game on 29 August, beating HC Spartak Moscow 3–2 in their first game of the Moscow Mayor's Cup, a preseason competition. Two days later, the team defeated HC Dinamo Minsk 6–1 to clinch the bronze medal at the tournament. On 6 September, the Shanghai Dragons announced Spencer Foo as their inaugural captain, with Adam Clendening, Alexander Burmistrov, Jake Bischoff, and Ryan Spooner serving as alternate captains. That day, they played their first regular season game, defeating SKA Saint Petersburg 7–4 to claim their first win in franchise history.
Season-by-season record Note: GP = Games played, W = Wins, OTW = Overtime/shootout wins, OTL = Overtime/shootout losses, L = Losses, Pts = Points, GF = Goals for, GA = Goals against
Season GP W OTW OTL L Pts GF GA Finish Top scorer Playoffs 2025–26 60 16 5 12 35 54 166 238 6th, Tarasov Nick Merkley (45 points: 24 G, 21 A; 68 GP) Did not qualify
Players and personnel Current roster
Head coaches Gerard Gallant, 2025–2026 Mitch Love, since 2026
General managers Igor Varitsky, 2025–2026 Evgeny Artyukhin, since 2026
Team president Ilya Kovalchuk, since 2026
Team captains Spencer Foo, 2025–2026 Dmitrij Jaškin, 2026–present
References
External links