Capitals call up top prospect Protas ahead of potential NHL debut
It appears the Washington Capitals will be adding one more reinforcement for the final four-game stretch of their season, hoping to make the playoffs for the 17th time in 19 years.
On Monday, the team announced that have they recalled forward prospect Ilya Protas from the AHL’s Hershey Bears.
The Washington Capitals have recalled forward Ilya Protas from the Hershey Bears of the American Hockey League (AHL). The 19-year-old leads AHL rookies and ranks sixth among all skaters in points this season.
Protas, 19, has 28 goals and 34 assists for 62 points in 66 games with Hershey this season, good for sixth in AHL scoring, and first among AHL rookies.
The Belarussian national was selected by Washington in the third round (75th overall) of the 2024 NHL Entry Draft. While not an especially ballyhooed prospect at the time, Protas’ play since getting drafted has hypercharged the excitement around him. Last season, playing with the OHL’s Windsor Spitfires, he tallied 50 goals and 74 assists, finishing second in the OHL with 124 points in 61 games. He then contributed five goals and 20 assists for 25 points in 12 postseason games for Windsor.
Protas’ dominance in the OHL, combined with his impressive play in the AHL this season, has made him one the most anticipated prospects across the NHL.
The 6’6″, 225-pound winger was ranked as the fourth-best Capitals prospect by Daily Faceoff’s prospect analyst Steven Ellis last summer. Ellis noted that Protas is “a huge forward who has improved his skating and clearly knows how to shoot.” The top two prospects in that ranking, forward Ryan Leonard and defenseman Cole Hutson, have already joined the Capitals.
With 87 points through 78 games, Washington sits three points back of both the Philadelphia Flyers for the third spot in the Metropolitan Division, and the Ottawa Senators for the second wild card spot in the Eastern Conference.
The Capitals will visit the Toronto Maple Leafs on Wednesday, before capping off a three-game road trip against the Pittsburgh Penguins on Saturday.