Gerard Gallant joined the list of former NHL coaches leading KHL teams in thrilling fashion.
The newly rebranded Shanghai Dragons announced Gallant as their new coach in a dramatic Mortal Kombat-style video posted to their social media channels on Wednesday.
"Inside every heart lives a child dreaming of legendary journeys," the video said. "And in every legend, there is a master – one who has shaped the greatest heroes."
The video then showed depictions of Jaromir Jagr and Artemi Panarin, two former KHL players Gallant coached during his time with the NHL's Florida Panthers and New York Rangers.
"Now, the master has arrived to build a new team with a new name: Gerard Gallant," the video said.
The announcement transitioned from a dragon's fiery eyes into a depiction of Gallant wearing armor.
THE MASTER IS HERE pic.twitter.com/0hAK9XYzuU
— Shanghai Dragons (@shadragons) August 13, 2025
The Dragons rebranded last week from Kunlun Red Star Beijing with a similar action-packed video announcement. They are the KHL's only team from China, although they'll play in St. Petersburg, Russia, this upcoming season, with a two-year window to return to China.
Gallant is the third active KHL coach to have also been an NHL bench boss. Here are details on the three "masters."
Gerard Gallant, Shanghai
Gallant, 61, signed a two-year contract to coach the Dragons, whose CEO said they must make the playoffs and push deep into the post-season to maintain strong interest in China.
"We understood that building a strong team usually takes more than one season — the example of Lokomotiv Yaroslavl speaks for itself," Dragons CEO Sergey Belykh said in a statement. "Unfortunately, we don’t have that kind of time. That’s why the Dragons needed not just an experienced, high-profile head coach, but a specialist capable of building a competitive team in the shortest possible time.
"That instantly reminded us of Vegas, a team that made it to the Stanley Cup final in their very first season, with Gerard Gallant serving as head coach at the time."
Gallant won the Jack Adams Award as the NHL's coach of the year when the Golden Knights reached the final in 2017-18. He first coached the Columbus Blue Jackets from 2004 to 2006, then the Panthers from 2015 to 2016 before joining Vegas. After his time with the Golden Knights, he guided the Rangers to the Eastern Conference final in 2022 before losing in the first round in 2023, leading to a mutual parting of ways.
In 705 regular-season NHL games, Gallant has a 369-262-70 record, with four ties and a 31-29 playoff record. He's also a two-time QMJHL champion, Memorial Cup champion and two-time World Championship gold medallist.
The Dragons feature Winnipeg Jets prospect Auston Wong, 2007 Nashville Predators draft pick Jeremy Smith, former Calgary Flames prospect Spencer Foo and his brother, Parker Foo.
Last year, Kunlun finished ninth of 11 teams in the Western Conference and missed the playoffs.
Bob Hartley, Yaroslavl
Hartley is entering his first season coaching Lokomotiv Yaroslavl, which won the Gagarin Cup as KHL playoff champions. The coach who led the team to the championship, Igor Nikitin, left Yaroslavl for CSKA Moscow.
Hartley, 64, hasn't coached a team since 2021-22, his fourth season with KHL Omsk. That year, he won the Gagarin Cup and was the KHL's coach of the year. Before that, he coached Latvia's men's squad for two years.
The Hawkesbury, Ont., native last coached in the NHL in 2015-16. He led the Calgary Flames for four seasons, winning the Jack Adams Award in 2014-15 after advancing to the second round of the playoffs.
Hartley also coached the Atlanta Thrashers from 2003 to 2007, but most of his success came with the Colorado Avalanche before that.
The Avalanche got to at least the conference final four times under Hartley. And in 2000-01, they went 52-16-10-4 in the regular season and 16-7 in the playoffs to capture the Stanley Cup.
His NHL coaching record is 463-361-59 with 61 ties in the regular season and 54-41 in the playoffs. He's also a playoff champion in the AHL, QMJHL, Swiss National League and Jr. A CCHL.
Hartley told French-Canadian radio station BPM Sports in July he accepted the offer to honor the memory of his friend Brad McCrimmon, a Stanley Cup champion, 1,200-game NHL veteran and assistant coach who was named Yaroslavl's bench boss in 2011 before he and most of the team died in a plane crash. Hartley said in French it touched him to relive the passion and friendship he had for McCrimmon.
Yaroslavl's squad includes Nashville Predators prospect Egor Surin, who was drafted 22nd overall in 2024, as well as former NHLers Alexander Radulov and Byron Froese.
Guy Boucher, Omsk
Boucher is entering his second season coaching Avangard Omsk after losing to Yaroslavl in the second round of the playoffs.
The 54-year-old hadn't been a head coach since working for the Ottawa Senators from 2016-17 to 2018-19. He helped the Senators reach the Eastern Conference final in 2016-17, when they lost in double overtime of Game 7 against the Pittsburgh Penguins.
The other time Boucher made the playoffs was in 2010-11 with the Tampa Bay Lightning, which also reached the Eastern Conference final.
In parts of six seasons split between the Lightning and Senators, Boucher collected a 191-186-46 regular-season record and a 22-15 playoff record. Before heading to Omsk, he spent one season as an assistant coach for the Toronto Maple Leafs in 2023-24.
Boucher's won the Spengler Cup with Team Canada in 2015, the Swiss Cup in 2014-15 and the QMJHL playoffs in 2009. He also won gold with Canada's U-18 squad in 2008 and the world junior team in 2009.
Omsk's former NHL players include Nail Yakupov, Vasily Ponomarev, Maxime Lajoie and Andrew Poturalski. Their NHL prospects include Colorado's Ivan Yunin and Mikhail Gulyayev.
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