KHL’s Dragons Sign Ryan Spooner, Nick Merkley, Nikita Popugayev

A day after signing Jake Bischoff and Gage Quinney, the KHL’s Shanghai Dragons continue adding to their club via the free agent market. Today, the team announced they’ve signed former NHL talents Ryan Spooner and Nicholas Merkley, as well as New Jersey Devils’ prospect Nikita Popugayev.

Spooner is the most significant of today’s additions, having the most playing experience at the NHL level. He was drafted with the 45th overall selection of the 2010 NHL Draft by the Boston Bruins, and spent the better part of seven years in the sport’s top league. Spooner’s best run in the NHL came between 2015 and 2018 with the Bruins and New York Rangers, playing as a solid secondary contributor for each team. During that run, Spooner scored 37 goals and 129 points in 217 games while averaging 14:48 of ice time per game.

Although a return to the NHL level can’t entirely be ruled out, Spooner will likely finish his NHL career with 48 goals and 167 points in 325 career contests with the Bruins, Rangers, Edmonton Oilers, and Vancouver Canucks. Since the 2019-20 season, he has been playing in the KHL, with a brief stop in the NL, scoring 77 goals and 257 points in 307 games in Russia.

Unlike Spooner, Merkley was drafted 15 picks earlier in the 2015 NHL Draft by the Arizona Coyotes and has far less experience at the NHL and KHL levels. Over the past three years playing with the KHL’s Dinamo Minsk and Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg, Merkley has scored 47 goals and 92 points in 191 games with another five goals and nine points in 18 postseason contests.

Meanwhile, Popugayev has spent much of the last decade in his native Russia. He was drafted 98th overall in the 2017 NHL Draft, and while his rights remain with the Devils, he’s unlikely to return to North America to continue his playing career. He’s spent the last two years with the KHL’s Lada Togliatti, scoring 21 goals and 32 points in 61 games.