Ilya Protas has arrived at MedStar Capitals Iceplex.
The 19-year-old center practiced Tuesday morning with the Washington Capitals for the first time since his recall from the AHL’s Hershey Bears. Protas could make his NHL debut on Wednesday night against the Toronto Maple Leafs.
At the skate, Protas received his first line assignment from head coach Spencer Carbery, playing between his older brother Aliaksei Protas and alternate captain Tom Wilson, per NHL.com’s Tom Gulitti.
Capitals lines and pairings at Ilya Protas’s first practice
With Protas on the ice, the Capitals filtered in Hendrix Lapierre and David Kampf as their extra forwards. The top prospect also received some second power-play unit reps as the placeholder for Alex Ovechkin, who missed Tuesday’s practice for maintenance.
Ethen Frank held Ovechkin’s spot on the top line, the club’s defense pairings remain the same, and backup goaltender Charlie Lindgren also took a maintenance day.
Protas, who will wear jersey number 62, has played with his brother before in a Capitals uniform, suiting up alongside him for several shifts during a preseason game against the Philadelphia Flyers in September. Ilya has dressed in four total NHL preseason games over the past two falls, recording two points (1g, 1a).
When the Protas brothers take the ice for their first official regular-season game together, they will be the fourth pair of siblings to play for the Capitals, per Monumental Sports Network’s Tarik El-Bashir. The previous three included the Miller brothers, Kelly, Kevin, and Kip, the Hunter brothers, Dale and Mark, and the Ferraro brothers, Chris and Peter.
When Protas does make his debut, he will be the third Capitals player to do so this season, following Bogdan Trineyev and Cole Hutson.
The Capitals play the Maple Leafs in Toronto at 7:30 pm on Wednesday night.
