Roaming through the Capitals locker room these last few seasons, you don’t have to walk far to find a player who has a brother who also plays or has played in the NHL. Caps defenseman Trevor van Riemsdyk’s older brother James has a distinguished NHL career in which he has played more than 1,000 games and has scored more than three hundred goals. Washington center Dylan Strome’s brother Ryan is longtime NHL fixture who is now with the Anaheim Ducks, and their younger brother Matt Strome plays for AHL Hershey, for which he famously netted the Calder Cup-clinching goal in June of this year. Goaltender Charlie Lindgren went up against brother Ryan – a defenseman for the New York Rangers – in the Stanley Cup playoffs earlier this year. And blueliner Rasmus Sandin’s older brother Linus played briefly in North America, getting into a game with Philadelphia in 2021-22 before continuing his career in his native Sweden.
When the Caps open their 2024 training camp next week, Dylan and Matt Strome won’t be the only pair of brothers taking the ice. Five years after they drafted center Aliaksei Protas in the third round (91st overall) of the 2019 NHL Draft in Vancouver, the Caps stayed on that family tree by selecting Ilya Protas in the third round of the 2024 NHL Draft in Vegas.
This weekend in Annapolis, Md., Ilya Protas is taking part in his first Caps’ rookie camp. He’s traveling down the same trail his brother began blazing half a decade ago, and he’s hoping it will lead to the same place. Aliaksei Protas has established himself as a legitimate NHL forward; he signed a five-year contract with the Capitals that kicks in this season. The younger Protas is just beginning his journey to the pros. After playing his draft season for USHL Des Moines, he’ll be skating for the OHL’s Windsor Spitfires this season. But this weekend, his thoughts are on rookie camp and the excitement of what awaits next week; the opportunity to take the ice with his older brother, and to take part in his first NHL training camp.
“It’s great feelings, only good thoughts,” says Protas of his current mindset. “I’ve got the opportunity to be on the same ice as the professionals, with adults, and with my brother for sure. And rookie camp, it’s a good group, a good coaching staff, and you just enjoy it here.
“This summer, you still stay on the same level as last summer, but now you have this opportunity, and you need to work more and more to have the chance to play pro hockey.”
“Work” has never been a problem for Aliaksei Protas, and it doesn’t figure to be one for Ilya, either. Before reporting to Arlington this week, the younger Protas made a stop in Windsor to explore his newest temporary hometown, and to meet with his coaches and teammates. Oh, and he also skated in his first OHL preseason game a week ago (on Sept. 6), hanging a hat trick on the Sarnia Sting in a 6-3 Windsor victory.
“He’s so smart and gifted,” Windsor head coach Greg Walters said of Protas, in Jim Parker’s story in the Sept. 7 edition of Windsor Star. “He’s an amazing kid. He cares about both ends of the rink. He’s not cheating for his goals and his skill set speaks for itself.”
For Protas, making a good first impression in Windsor is a confidence builder for the weekend in Annapolis and what’s on the horizon next week.
“It’s awesome,” he says. “I was a little nervous before the game, you know. It was my first game in the Windsor rink. And I understand this is only preseason, but I was nervous because it’s a new organization, new fans, and you need to show something. And yeah, that was awesome. It’s a good group, the coaching staff trusts me, and I’m excited to join this group.”
When the Caps called out Ilya Protas’ name midway through the third round of the draft in late June of this year, the 6-foot-5, 195-pounder had yet to celebrate his 18th birthday, which was on July 18. That makes him the youngest of Washington’s eight-player draft class of 2024. Protas’ maturity belies his youth; he’s seen more of the world than a lot of kids his age, and he’s eager for more.
“It’s awesome, because I understand that not a lot of people have this opportunity to be there, and to be here,” he says, referring to his current and previous stops, all of them far from his native Belarus. It’s awesome to be able to see these other spots and places, and I really enjoy it. I really enjoyed Des Moines and Windsor, and it’s awesome to be here, too.”
With a five-year age difference between the two Protas brothers, they’ve only practiced together; they’ve never been teammates or taken the ice together wearing the same sweater. Seeing the two brothers embrace so warmly and happily in Vegas this past June showed the love and the bond they share.
Now, both brothers are in the Washington organization, and the possibility of them playing together is something that is possible, something that could be ahead on their horizon. And Ilya Protas allows himself that dream, but he knows it all comes back to that four-letter work that’s a vital part of every hockey player’s toolbag at every level: Work.
“Sure, sure,” he says, when asked to look ahead a bit. “It’s a dream. You know it’s a dream, and you have to understand it’s a big opportunity, and you need to work harder and harder if you want to be there.
“I try to work to be better every day. I’m going to have this season in Windsor, and we’ll try for sure to win something with Windsor. That’s my first goal. I want to win. I want to be a winning player who always plays winning games, and I want to win a cup with Windsor.”
When Protas was drafted in June, he was joined by his older, NHL-playing brother and their mom. But visa problems prevented papa Protas from joining the rest of his family; as was the case when the Caps conducted their annual Mentors’ Trip last season. That leads to one more dream for both Protas brothers: to have their father see them play live, in the NHL.
“It will be like a childhood dream come true, I hope,” says Protas. “When I got drafted, I didn’t know my dad cried a little bit, but it makes him proud of you. It makes him proud and it’s an unreal feeling. You understand that you want to make him proud more and more, and you still think about it, and you work harder and harder.”
There’s that word again, work. Ilya Protas knows he has a lot of work ahead of him, but like his big brother, he’s not at all shy about getting right to it.
