Can Aliaksei Protas continue his progress?
Back with Washington Capitals playoff predictions and they are coming rapid fire. Next up is Aliaksei Protas a big dude with a sick nickname in “The Viper.”
We first caught a glimpse of Protas in 2021 22 where he had three goals and six assists for nine points in 33 games. Last season he played much more in large part due to injuries up and down the lineup. He appeared in 58 games and had four goals and 11 assists for 15 points.
His jersey number has been 59 but with the departure of Garnet Hathaway, it gave him the green light to go with number 21. He’s a big guy who’s listed as six foot six and 225 pounds. Only 22 he’s basically a younger Anthony Mantha. A little bit more upside but we’ll see what Mantha has to say about that this season.
I could see Protas putting up nine goals and nine assists for 18 points. Not great numbers but certainly better numbers than the previous two seasons.
When the Caps missed the playoffs, Protas kept playing hockey. And I mean that literally. He went up to the Hershey Bears and helped contribute to their Calder Cup run which was their 12th championship in franchise history.
With Hershey, Protas finished the playoffs tied for third on the Bears in scoring. He played in 20 games and recorded five goals and eight assists for 13 points.
Protas was skating on the third line at today’s practice. He was alongside Dylan Strome at center and Sonny Milano to the left. The fourth line it looks like Mantha is there while Matthew Phillips was the extra forward.
light. More. Darcy Kuemper will show why he was brought here
The remaining players we have left to predict are Connor McMichael, Dylan Strome, Beck Malenstyn, Nic Dowd, Matthew Phillips, Lucas Johansen, and Alex Alexeyev. The season starts in two days so we’ll try our absolute best to get these predictions in.