Ilya Kovalchuk Appointed President of KHL's Shanghai Dragons
Two-time IIHF World Champion and 2018 Olympic gold medalist takes helm of Chinese club playing in Russia-based league
Quick Look
- Retired hockey star Ilya Kovalchuk, who turned 43 on April 15, has been appointed president of the Shanghai Dragons club in the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL).
- The two-time IIHF World Champion (2008, 2009) and 2018 Olympic gold medalist with Team Russia will lead the Chinese club, which plays its home games at the SKA Arena in St.
- Petersburg, Russia.
AI-generated summary
Why It Matters
The Shanghai Dragons (formerly Kunlun Red Star) is a professional Chinese hockey club headquartered in Beijing that competes in the Russia-based KHL. The club has struggled in recent seasons, finishing 9th in the Western Conference in 2025/2026 with 54 points and failing to qualify for the playoffs. The KHL currently has 22 professional clubs from Russia, Belarus, China, and Kazakhstan.
MOSCOW, April 21. /TASS/. Retired hockey great and 2018 Olympic Champion Ilya Kovalchuk has been appointed the president of the Shanghai Dragons club playing in the Russia-based Kontinental Hockey League (KHL), he told TASS on Tuesday.
"I am glad to become a part of the Dragons' family. We have an interesting time ahead of us: we plan to make some big changes in how we approach things, as well as to continue our active interaction with the fans. We are waiting for everyone at the SKA Arena in St. Petersburg," he said.
Kovalchuk, who turned 43 on April 15, is a two-time IIHF (the International Ice Hockey Federation) World Champion (2008, 2009) and won the Olympic gold medal playing for team Russia in 2018 in South Korea's PyeongChang, where he led all scorers at the tournament. He also won a bronze at the 2002 Winter Olympic Games in Salt Lake City.
Kovalchuk himself played several seasons in the KHL - for Khimki, SKA St. Petersburg, Avangard and Spartak Moscow - winning three Gagarin Cup trophies. The Russian ice hockey star also played previously for a number of NHL clubs, spending time with the Atlanta Thrashers, New Jersey Devils, Los Angeles Kings, Montreal Canadiens and Washington Capitals. At the 2022 Winter Olympic Games in Beijing he served as the general manager of the Russian national ice hockey team.
KHL's Shanghai Dragons HC (formerly known as Kunlun Red Star HC) finished the 2025/2026 season in 9th place in the Western Conference division with 54 points and failed to qualify for the playoffs.
In July 2025, the Kunlun Red Star, which is a professional Chinese hockey club headquartered in Beijing, announced that it would be playing its KHL 2025/2026 matches at the Ska Arena in Russia's second-largest city of St. Petersburg. A month later, the club announced that it was changing its name to the Shanghai Dragons and last month it announced that it would play its 2026/2027 season matches at the Ska Arena as well.
The Kontinental Hockey League was founded in Russia in 2008 and currently lists 22 professional ice hockey clubs, namely from Russia, Belarus, China and Kazakhstan.
Open Questions
- What specific changes does Kovalchuk plan to implement?
- Will the team pursue any major player acquisitions?
- How will the club's Chinese identity be maintained while playing in Russia?
