Defenseman Jake Chelios, 34, has announced his retirement via video on the Instagram page of the Chinese-based KHL club that he’s played for the past six seasons.

Chelios, the son of Hockey Hall-of-Fame defenseman Chris Chelios, was born and raised in the United States but became a naturalized Chinese citizen through playing for Kunlun Red Star, which is nominally based in China but has played its home games in the greater-Moscow area since the onset of the pandemic in 2020.

“I want to thank everyone I’ve had the privilege of working with over the last six years,” said Chelios, who is shown holding his young daughter. “Fans, I appreciate you guys showing up and supporting us, no matter where our home city was.”

Chelios was born in Chicago while his father played for the Chicago Blackhawks, and played youth hockey in Illinois and Michigan, after his father moved to the Detroit Red Wings.

He played four years of college hockey for the Michigan State Spartans. Undrafted, he eventually signed with the Carolina Hurricanes but played only pre-season games for them. In 2018, he signed with Detroit and played his only five NHL games with them that season, recording no points and one minor penalty.

Carolina draft pick Hudson Elyniuk joins several ex-NHLers on KHL's Kunlun Red Star KHL club Kunlun Red Star has announced the signing of 26-year-old Canadian center Hudson Elyniuk to a one-year contract.

Between 2014 and 2019, Chelios had 109 points and 216 penalty minutes in 305 AHL regular-season and playoff games. Between 2019 and 2025, he had 72 points and 182 penalty minutes in 277 KHL games.

Chelios was one of several Kunlun import players who were granted Chinese citizenship for the purpose of building a competitive team for the 2022 Winter Olympics, which China was hosting in Beijing. Chelios had two assists in four games at the Olympics, and 15 points in nine games at two IIHF World Championships at the Division 2-A and 1-B levels.

When representing China internationally, Chelios was given the Chinese name Kailiaosi Jieke.

“To my teammates and their families, thank you,” Chelios continued. “My wife and I were given the rare opportunity to play and travel the world with a core group of great people for six years and made lifelong friends in the process. From our first training camp in Beijing to the last five years spent in Moscow, we did it all and I wouldn’t trade it for the world. I also want to send ‘Nihao’ to the guys in China who I haven’t seen in a couple years. I hope you are doing well and I will see you again soon.”

Kunlun Red Star has rebranded itself as the Shanghai Dragons for the 2025-26 season, but it doesn’t appear that the team will return to playing in China.

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