Ilya Protas will spend more time around the Washington Capitals this September after an impressive 2024-25 season in junior.
Tuesday, the Windsor Spitfires, Protas’s OHL team, announced their preseason roster and Little Pro wasn’t included. Meanwhile, other top NHL prospects like Liam Greentree (LAK), Jack Nesbitt (PHI), and AJ Spellacy (CHI) were.
Protas, 19, led the Spitfires in scoring last season after recording 124 points (50g, 74a) in 61 games. The 2024 third-round draft pick finished second in the OHL in scoring and then chipped in an additional 25 points (5g, 20a) in 12 playoff games.
Windsor began their preseason on Friday night, losing 8-1 to the Flint Firebirds. None of their NHL-affiliated players played in the game.
The Belarusian forward, younger brother of Capitals forward Aliaksei Protas, appears likely to begin his professional career in the Caps organization this season. Unlike his other NHL-drafted peers on the Spitfires, Protas was drafted out of the USHL, so he is not subject to the still temporarily intact NHL-CHL transfer agreement. The agreement bars teenage-aged prospects from leaving their CHL teams for the AHL.
Protas attended this year’s NHL/NHLPA Rookie Orientation Program alongside fellow Capitals prospects Ryan Leonard and Ryan Chesley, all of whom are set to play in either the NHL with the Caps or the AHL with the Hershey Bears this year.
The Capitals are set to begin their Rookie Camp on September 12 at the McMullen Hockey Arena in Annapolis, MD. Protas will be in attendance and then also participate in the club’s 2025 Training Camp the following week.
