Daniel Sprong is taking his talents to Russia.
Wednesday, CSKA Moscow announced that they signed the the Dutch forward to a one-year KHL deal for the 2025-26 season.
The 28-year-old winger played for three different NHL teams last season, posting seven points (2g, 5a) in 30 games combined for the Seattle Kraken, Vancouver Canucks, and New Jersey Devils. Sprong also tallied 25 points (11g, 14a) in 19 games played with the Coachella Valley Firebirds – the AHL affiliate of the Kraken.
“I loved it here (in New Jersey),” Sprong said in his Breakdown Day interview with Devils media. “Great group of guys, great fans. I would say everything before New Jersey
(this year) was pretty difficult. Mentally a lot of ups and downs, mostly downs. When I got to New Jersey, I think I fit in well. I think my game, I showed I could play physical, I showed I could play defensively.”
Sprong added that Sheldon Keefe “is my favorite coach I have played for in the NHL so far. He is honest. He says it how it is. That works really well for me.”
Sprong ultimately landed in New Jersey at the trade deadline after being acquired from the Kraken for for a 2026 seventh-round pick. He posted two assists in 11 regular-season games for the Devils, and appeared in Game 1 of the Devils’ first-round playoff series against the Carolina Hurricanes, suiting up with Paul Cotter and Cody Glass on the third line. Sprong was then healthy-scratched four consecutive contests as the Devils lost the series in five games.
“In the last four to five years, my numbers in the bottom six have shown I produce there,” he added. “This year it didn’t happen. I would say since getting here, I played well both sides. I was on the ice for a good amount of goals but the puck never seemed to find me. I loved it here and I really hope I can come back.”
Sprong waited on New Jersey to make a decision before exploring other options in free agency. His likely scenario would have been a PTO and having to make a team out of training camp.
Sprong’s NHL career likely comes to an end despite being an electric goal-scorer who could light the lamp with little on-ice opportunity.
Daniel Sprong has signed in the KHL.
Sprong scored 5v5 goals at the 17th-most efficient rate of any player in the NHL over the course of his career. He never got more than 4th line minutes and played for 8 teams across 374 games. pic.twitter.com/2fLwYLWoB5
— JFresh (@JFreshHockey) July 23, 2025
Sprong is three seasons removed from a career year where he scored a career high 21 goals and 46 points in 66 games with the Kraken. He followed that up with 18 goals and 43 points in 76 games with the Detroit Red Wings in 2023-24.
Sprong will go down in history as one of the rare players who suited up with both Sidney Crosby and Alex Ovechkin during his nine-season NHL career. Once, he actually looked off Ovechkin while scoring on a two-on-one break.
Sprong talked about the experience with the Empty Netters podcast.
@empty.netters Imagine looking off Ovechkin on a 2 on 1 and living to tell the tale 🥅 #nhl #hockey #pocast #alexanderovechkin #washingtoncapitals ♬ original sound – Empty Netters
We’re in morning skate. We go on a 2-on-1 together. You just go with any guy 2-on-1. I’m kind of being an idiot and I start laughing at him and I look at him the whole way but shoot it. I missed the net probably by 20 feet. It wasn’t even close. And he looks angry at me. So I’m like, ‘F***, Dan, why’d you do it?’ Give it to him… just pass it to him.
The game goes and before the game I do my handshakes and always, I had one with Ovi and he would just be like, ‘Babe just shoot the puck. Don’t think.’ And I told him, ‘O, but you got mad at me this morning.’ He goes, ‘Yeah, yeah, shoot it.’ ‘But what if [you’re] open?’ ‘You got to give it to me. So I go ‘okay sounds good.’
So game happens and we’re midway through play. Like early in the second, I got moved up to his line and a turnover happens. 2-on-1 and I look over and I see it’s Ovi going with me. So I’m going down, I’m like ‘I got to pass this one.’ But the more I get going, the closer and closer (I get), I’m like the D is starting to shift over and I see the goalie, instead of playing me, plays… his feet switch and he’s starting to play the pass. So I’m like, ‘What am I doing here? What am I doing here?’
And then at one point, I made the decision, this is a freebie. Like I have half the net to shoot at. I’m going to hit the net, I’m scoring. So I decided to shoot it.
Thank god it went in. And then when I scored, I just started laughing. If you look at all the guys on the ice, they knew what was going on the whole day and started laughing. And I’m like, ‘I’m sorry.’ And he loved it.
Honestly, like, he’s a guy that if you’re on his team and you score, it’s like if he scored. He’s so happy for you. He’s an unbelievable guy and captain. And he was great to me in Washington.
Sprong, initially acquired by the Capitals from the Anaheim Ducks for Christian Djoos, played two seasons in Washington coming out of the coronavirus pandemic. Sprong scored 13 times in 42 games during the 2020-21 season before notching 8 goals in 47 appearances during the 2021-22 campaign. Falling out of favor with Peter Laviolette, Sprong was dealt as part of a package to the Kraken in 2022 for veteran forward Marcus Johansson.
The 2025-26 season will mark Sprong’s first season overseas as a professional.