The Washington Capitals could feature two brothers on their roster at some point during the 2025-26 campaign.
Ilya Protas, the younger brother of Capitals forward Aliaksei Protas, is set for his professional debut after dominating the OHL as a member of the Windsor Spitfires last season. While the younger Protas still has plenty of work to do to earn an NHL roster spot, he’s had the perfect role model training next to him all offseason in Belarus.
“Ilya has an important summer in this regard,” Aliaksei told Vitbichi’s Vitaly Sapronenko, as translated by Google Translate. “The guy still has something to work on. He is already an adult and understands perfectly well that in order to get into a stronger league, he needs to sweat seriously in the locker room and on the ice.”
The younger Protas, a third-round pick in the 2024 NHL Draft, recorded 124 points (50g, 74a) in 61 games for the Spitfires during the 2024-25 campaign, finishing second in the league in scoring. His tremendous rise in prospect rankings everywhere coincided with Aliaksei’s breakout season at the top level for the Capitals.
In 76 games for the Capitals, Protas posted a career-best 66 points (30g, 36a). He ranked third in scoring on the Eastern Conference’s best regular-season team, behind just Alex Ovechkin (73) and Dylan Strome (82).
“I think that everything just worked out well for me,” Protas said. “I managed to perform effectively and usefully, but at the same time, I clearly understand that it will be more difficult now. And the defenders will look at me differently and act tougher. For my part, I want to prove to everyone that the regular season was not a coincidence.”
The younger Protas signed his three-year, entry-level contract with the Capitals following his participation in development camp last July. Capitals head coach Spencer Carbery later gave Little Pro his NHL preseason debut alongside Aliaksei against the Boston Bruins in September.
Both brothers have spoken about how Aliaksei often challenges Ilya to get better every day, and the two spend their summers together in their native Vitebsk.
“I preferred a more severe style – I said everything as it was, without beating around the bush,” Aliaksei said of his advice to Ilya in June. “I was a negative person, which I think is also useful. Because you always have to understand what is missing, even if you are good at a certain level.
“He can always count on the opinion of his older brother. With age, I must admit, he began to listen to me much more attentively.”
If Ilya doesn’t make the Capitals out of training camp next month, the AHL’s Hershey Bears are the likely option for him. The 19-year-old was drafted out of the USHL, so he is not subject to the NHL-CHL transfer agreement, which bars teenage-aged prospects from leaving their CHL teams for the AHL.
