The Washington Capitals made one of their final rounds of cuts during Training Camp on Friday and Aliaksei Protas looks very close to winning a roster spot. Protas, who is one of the few waiver-exempt players left on the roster, started camp in a precarious position, potentially set to return to the AHL despite his past success and experience with the Capitals.
Over the last week, that story turned around completely after Protas put up two very strong preseason outings. Head coach Spencer Carbery raved about Protas after practice on Friday, praising how the young Belorussian stepped up in what the rookie bench boss labeled as “really, really important” games in the battle for bottom-six forward roles.
“Liked him a lot,” Carbery said. “Especially the last week. Thought he was a little slow out of the gate in Training Camp, and now the last two games he’s stuck out like a sore thumb. He’s skating, pressuring the puck, making plays. I’ve liked his game over the second half of camp a lot.”
Protas currently sits tied for the most preseason games on the Caps this season with four total appearances. He found his first point in those four games on Thursday night in Columbus as the center of the team’s third line between Ethen Frank and Alex Limoges.
The 22-year-old Calder Cup champion beat his man to the net, picked up a rebound from a Chase Priskie shot, and deftly lifted a backhand over the Blue Jackets netminder.
like a pro(tas) pic.twitter.com/jhplRjPCKB
— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) October 5, 2023
Protas has spent time both at center and on the wing during the preseason. With the Caps pretty locked in down the middle with Nicklas Backstrom, Evgeny Kuznetsov, Dylan Strome, and Nic Dowd, Protas’ primary role on the Capitals this year would likely come on the wing.
That doesn’t mean that Carbery doesn’t appreciate his versatility. “[It helps us] big time,” Carbery said. “Big time. Being able to move around center, wing, sort of like McMichael, penalty kill, power play — that’s a huge asset when you get into the thick of things in the season and you’re dealing with injuries, roster, cap stuff.”
Protas was in agreement earlier in camp. “Overall, I think I should get used to just fill the spots and be ready to play everywhere,” he said. “Wherever coach want me to be, I will just be there and compete. Gotta compete for all twelve spots, basically. Gotta be ready to play.”
The big forward has seen 91 NHL games over the past two seasons, with the majority of those coming on Dowd’s wing on the team’s fourth line. That’s a role that he could return to after Nicolas Aube-Kubel, Riley Sutter, and Joe Snively were all waived or sent down on Friday.
Protas has formed an incredibly successful pair with Dowd in the ice time they’ve shared together. At five-on-five with those two on the ice the past two seasons, the Caps have seen 53.6 percent of the shot attempts, 58.5 percent of the expected goals, 56.7 percent of the scoring chances, and 58.2 percent of the high-danger chances.
Still, Carbery doesn’t just see Protas as just a fourth-line, checking-forward-type player.
“I think he’s multidimensional, where he can play with good players but also if he’s playing down in the lineup — and fourth lines have changed a little bit,” Carbery said. “There’s a lot of fast, forechecking, not necessarily your physical imposing fourth lines — and I think that’s kind of where Pro fits. He’s a big guy. He can forecheck well. When he’s skating and going for his size, he’s a lot to deal with. And puck protection-wise, being able to get inside offensively, there’s a lot of things where he can provide value down in the lineup.”
Carbery noted that his lineup for Saturday’s preseason finale against Columbus will “look very close to our opening lineup”. The Caps still have 14 active forwards at camp, excluding the injured Max Pacioretty. Overall, they have 27 players left and will need to cut that down to at least 23 before they take on the Pittsburgh Penguins on October 13.
Headline photo: Katie Adler/RMNB
