Slovak winger Tomáš Jurčo, 31, has signed a one-year contract with Kunlun Red Star, the KHL club announced this weekend. Jurčo had previously played for the Chinese-based club in the 2022-23 season.

A native of Košice, Slovakia, Jurčo played junior hockey for the QMJHL’s Saint John Sea Dogs and was a second-round pick of the Detroit Red Wings in 2011. Between 2013 and 2021, Jurčo recorded 55 points in 231 combined regular-season and playoff games in the NHL with the Red Wings, Chicago Blackhawks, Edmonton Oilers and Vegas Golden Knights.

Jurčo has played in the KHL since 2021 except for a 17-game stretch last season in Switzerland’s National League with HC Davos. His last game with the team was the final of the Spengler Cup on December 31, in which Davos defeated Czech club Dynamo Pardubice 5-3. However, that was overshadowed by an incident in the first period of that game in which Jurčo was physically accosted on the bench by Davos coach Josh Holden – an incident caught on live television.

Jurčo finished the season with Avangard Omsk, recording 21 points in 33 games.

Internationally, Jurčo has represented Slovakia at one IIHF U18 World Championship, two World Junior Championships, three World Championships and two Winter Olympics. He won a bronze medal at the 2022 Olympics in Beijing but hasn’t played internationally since due to Hockey Slovakia’s policy of not selecting KHL players for its national team, which was imposed soon after.