
#2 Aliaksei Protas
Aliaksei Protas aka Alexei aka “The Viper” impressed teammates, coaches, scouts and fans alike. So why did the Washington Capitals decide to send him back?
Simple, because he’s still young and because junior players are usually the first players cut in a team’s training camp. Those respective junior teams begin their camps very soon so that’s why Protas is back with the Western Hockey League’s (WHL) Price Albert Raiders.
Protas will look to lead the Raiders back to another Ed Chynoweth Cup and he was spectacular during last year’s run. If your nickname is the Viper I’d expect nothing less.

Protas was a steal in a sense and has a potential to be a gem in the future. NHL Central Scouting ranked Protas 16th among centers and 30th overall among North American forwards.
https://twitter.com/Capitals/status/1173754539738112000
Protas scored 11 goals and 29 assists for 40 points in 61 regular season games, ranking seventh among WHL rookies. In the playoffs, Protas added 12 goals and 10 assists for 22 points in 23 games. He led all rookies with 22 postseason points and that run included back-to-back hat tricks in consecutive games.
Protas has the height of six-foot-five and has the playmaking capabilities of an NHLer. We’ll see him in Washington one day.