Rourke Chartier Signs With KHL’s Kunlun Red Star

Kunlun Red Star of the Kontinental Hockey League announced the signing of center Rourke Chartier to a one-year deal today. He’ll be the 10th player with NHL experience to suit up for the China-based club next season.

Remarkably, Chartier was one of the better UFA center options left on the market, at least in terms of those with recent NHL action. The 2014 Sharks fifth-round pick had found his way into the Senators system over the past three seasons, where he worked his way up from minor-league fixture to frequent fourth-line option.

At the beginning of his professional career, Chartier had strong numbers with San Jose’s AHL affiliate and looked like he may be a strong value pickup for his draft billing. However, significant concussion symptoms beset him early on, limiting him to 28 AHL appearances in 2017-18 and 39 total AHL and NHL appearances in 2018-19 before costing him the 2019-20 campaign entirely.

After being non-tendered by the Sharks at the end of his entry-level contract, Chartier got back on track on minor league deals with AHL Toronto and Belleville before landing a two-way deal with Ottawa ahead of 2022-23. The 5’11” pivot made six showings for the Sens in spot call-up duty to mark his first NHL appearance in four years but was held without a point. It didn’t stop him from having a solid season in the minors, scoring 20 goals in 40 games with the B-Sens.

Chartier was again non-tendered by the Senators last summer but returned on a slightly richer two-way deal for 2023-24 regardless. It proved beneficial for the 28-year-old, who routinely subbed in as Ottawa’s fourth-line center with injuries affecting their forward corps en route to playing a career-high 37 games. Unfortunately, he was a non-factor offensively, limited to two goals and an assist while averaging 10:46 per game. He still managed strong production in brief action with Belleville, recording seven goals and 13 points in 19 games.

Ottawa didn’t bring Chartier back this time around, though, as he reached UFA status on his own this summer. They instead opted to replace his role by bringing in the younger, speedier Noah Gregor on a one-year deal, and prospects such as Angus Crookshank and Zack Ostapchuk were going to challenge Chartier for NHL minutes anyway. That paved the way for Chartier’s move to Kunlun, which has played in Mytishchi, Russia, since the COVID-19 pandemic but is still technically based in Beijing.