The Kunlun Red Star officially announced today that they have signed a one-year contract with Devante Smith-Pelly. Smith-Pelly spent the last two seasons in Washington, with whom he won the Stanley Cup in 2018.
Previously, the 27-year-old hockey player played for New Jersey, Montreal and was originally drafted by Anaheim in 2010.
In total, the NHL forward has played in 446 games in the regular season and playoffs and scored 117 (57 + 60) points.
The Kunlun Red Star has signed a one-year contract with Devante Smith-Pelly. The winger has won the Stanley Cup champion with the Washington Capitals in 2018. #krs #redstarhockey pic.twitter.com/wqntNWmmmn
— Kunlun Red Star (@KRSchina) October 28, 2019
Smith-Pelly signed a one-year, $1-million extension with the Capitals after the 2017-2018 season. He was officially waived by the Capitals on February 20, and re-assigned to Hershey. Smith-Pelly was not re-signed by the Capitals which left him as an unrestricted-free agent this summer.
Smith-Pelly attended a professional tryout with the Calgary Flames where he went without a point in four preseason games before being released.
Kunlun Red Star is a Chinese club that joined the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL) prior to the 2016–17 season. Kunlun currently sits ninth out of 12 teams in the KHL’s Eastern Conference, with 22 points from 22 games played.
Other players on the Kunlun roster with NHL ties include Gilbert Brule, Adam Cracknell, former Capital Wojtek Wolski, Griffin Reinhart, Brandon Yip, and Andrej Sustr. There are also two sons of former stars in the league with David Bondra and Jake Chelios.
By Jon Sorensen
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