The Washington Capitals made another big cut to their Training Camp roster, leaving the team with 27 players a little over a week ahead of Opening Night.
Seven players were removed from the roster, three of which must pass through waivers to get to Hershey.
Washington Capitals prospect Aliaksei Protas had a busy year of hockey and believes it will be a very good experience for him moving forward in his career.
The 20-year-old, six-foot-six-inch, 214-pound centerman played a full KHL season plus playoffs with Dinamo Minsk, 16 games with the Hershey Bears in the AHL, a World Championship appearance with Belarus in May, and Olympic Qualifying with Belarus in August.
By Chris Cerullo 1 month ago
The Hershey Bears clinched the 2021 North Division title on Saturday with a 3-2 victory over the Binghamton Devils. Later in the evening, the Toronto Marlies took down the Laval Rocket, which also clinched the Macgregor Kilpatrick Trophy for the Bears as the AHL’s regular-season champion.
This is the 20th division win and eighth regular-season title in Bears history.
By Chris Cerullo 5 months ago
Aliaksei Protas scored his first AHL goal in the Hershey’s home win against the Wilkes Barre/Scranton Penguins on Sunday.
The Capitals’ 2019 third-round pick, wearing number 40, took a backpass from Joe Snively in the high slot and ripped a shot, beating Baby Pens’ goalie Max Lagace.
After a very successful season with the KHL’s Dinamo Minsk, Aliaksei Protas is returning to North America for more development in the Capitals’ organization.
Protas was loaned to Dinamo Minsk in August due to the pandemic mostly shutting down junior hockey in Canada.
After Dinamo was eliminated in the KHL quarterfinals by SKA St. Petersburg in mid-March, the Capitals recalled Protas stateside and assigned the towering forward to the AHL Hershey Bears. The Bears’ season runs through May.
By Ian Oland 7 months ago
Aliaksei Protas is making the most of his August loan to the KHL.
The Capitals’ 2019 third-round pick has scored four goals in his first 14 games with Dinamo Minsk and is among the top scorers in the KHL amongst under 20-year-old players.
The 6’6”, 210-pound center is coming off a 2019-20 season that saw him tally 80 points (31g, 49a) in 58 junior hockey games with the Prince Albert Raiders (WHL). While he’s not producing nearly as prolifically as before, his game has translated to a men’s league that features a bigger rink and some of the most talented players outside the NHL.
By Ian Oland 1 year ago
Over the last month, the Washington Capitals loaned five prospects overseas as the NHL continues to grapple with how to conduct and start its 2020-21 season. Other NHL teams have followed suit.
Damien Riat and Tobias Geisser were loaned to Swiss National League teams; Axel Jonsson-Fjallby was returned to his native Sweden to play in the HockeyAllsvenskan; and Alex Alexeyev and Aliaksei Protas are playing in Russia’s KHL. All five are expected to be called back for Capitals’ training camp.
The tradeoff of the loans is simple: Caps prospects continue playing hockey, but they also assume varying degrees of risk of contracting the coronavirus outside a bubble system. The latter has become a concern as the KHL is suddenly enduring a COVID-19 outbreak.
The Washington Capitals announced on Friday that they’re loaning 2019 third-round pick Aliaksei Protas to the KHL to begin next season. Protas will suit up for Dinamo Minsk, which is located in his home country of Belarus.
The Caps added that they expect to recall the mammoth forward back to North America either for the start of the Western Hockey League’s (WHL) 2020-21 season or Capitals’ Training Camp.
By Ian Oland 1 year ago
Washington Capitals 2019 third-round pick and WHL scoring phenom, Aliaksei Protas represented Belarus in this year’s Division 1A World Junior Championship. The hulking center led his country in scoring on the way to a bronze medal in world junior hockey’s second tier of the championship.
The Belorussians beat Norway to claim bronze and the Austrians beat Latvia to claim gold and a spot in the top tier competition next year.
By Chris Cerullo 2 years ago
The Athletic’s Corey Pronman wrote over the summer that the Washington Capitals have the second-worst farm system in the NHL. But after another great draft, the Capitals are making Corey reconsider.
Monday, the prospects guru named Aliaksei Protas the 2019 NHL Draft’s biggest riser.
The Capitals drafted Protas in the third round, number 91 overall.
By Chris Cerullo 2 years ago
