Team GB star Ben O’Connor has signed with Kontinental Hockey League side Barys Astana for the 2018/19 season.

O’Connor has spent the past four seasons with Sheffield Steelers, helping the South Yorkshire side win two Elite League titles and a playoff championship, as well as becoming an integral part of the Great Britain side which secured back-to-back promotions during the past two IIHF World Championships.

The 29-year-old has previously played in Kazakhstan for Saryarka Karaganda and Arlan Kokshetau, with his latest move arguably the most significant for a British trained player since Steelers team mate David Phillips joined the AHL Rockford IceHogs in 2009/10.

In 364 Elite League games for the Steelers, Edinburgh Capitals, Coventry Blaze and Basingstoke Bison, O’Connor has scored 64 goals and 248 points, and was voted Elite League British Player of the Year in 2014/15, also picking up the Best Defenceman award at the 2017 and 2018 IIHF World Championships (Division 1B and 1A respectively).

PHOTO: Dean Woolley