Aliaksei Protas
Aliaksei Uladzimiravich Protas (Belarusian: Аляксей Уладзіміравіч Протас, Russian: Алексей Владимирович Протас; born 6 January 2001) is a Belarusian professional ice hockey centre for the Hershey Bears in the American Hockey League (AHL) as a prospect to the Washington Capitals of the National Hockey League (NHL). Protas previously played two seasons of major junior for the Prince Albert Raiders of the Western Hockey League (WHL), and was selected 91st overall by the Washington Capitals in the 2019 NHL Entry Draft. He made his professional debut in 2020 with Dinamo Minsk of the Kontinental Hockey League. Internationally Protas has played for the Belarusian national junior team at two World Junior Championships.
| Aliaksei Protas | |||
|---|---|---|---|
 Protas with Washington Capitals in 2021 | |||
| Born |
6 January 2001 Vitebsk, Belarus | ||
| Height | 6 ft 6 in (198 cm) | ||
| Weight | 214 lb (97 kg; 15 st 4 lb) | ||
| Position | Centre | ||
| Shoots | Left | ||
| NHL team (P) Cur. team Former teams |
Washington Capitals Hershey Bears (AHL) Dinamo Minsk | ||
| National team |
 Belarus | ||
| NHL Draft |
91st overall, 2019 Washington Capitals | ||
| Playing career | 2020–present | ||
Playing career
Protas started his career in his hometown of Vitebsk. He moved to Denver, Colorado to play youth hockey for Colorado Evolution for one season before travelling back to Belarus. He spent two seasons with the Belarus U17 team that played in the Vysshaya Liga, the second league in Belarus, before being selected 26th overall by the Prince Albert Raiders in the 2018 CHL Import Draft.[1] He joined the Raiders for the 2018–19 season, and finished with 40 points in 61 games. Heading into the 2019 NHL Entry Draft Protas was the 30th ranked North American skater, and was selected 91st overall by the Washington Capitals.[2] He played for Prince Albert in 2019–20 season, which was ended prematurely due to COVID-19; in 58 games he had 80 points, which placed him ninth in the WHL in scoring and the highest European player.[3]
For the 2020–21 season Protas was loaned to HC Dinamo Minsk of the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL).[3] He had 18 points in 58 games, and an additional 4 points in 5 playoff games.[4] With Minsk's season over, Protas was re-assigned to the Hershey Bears, the Capitals' American Hockey League affiliate.[5]
During the 2021–22 NHL season, Protas was called up to the Capitals,[6] and he scored his first career NHL goal on 28 November 2021, during a 4–2 victory over the Carolina Hurricanes.[7]
Career statistics
Regular season and playoffs
| Regular season | Playoffs | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | League | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | ||
| 2016–17 | Team Belarus U17 | BEL-2 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2017–18 | Team Belarus U17 | BEL-2 | 49 | 9 | 11 | 20 | 8 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 0 | ||
| 2018–19 | Prince Albert Raiders | WHL | 61 | 11 | 29 | 40 | 4 | 23 | 12 | 10 | 22 | 6 | ||
| 2018–19 | Prince Albert Raiders | MC | — | — | — | — | — | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 2019–20 | Prince Albert Raiders | WHL | 58 | 31 | 49 | 80 | 8 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2020–21 | Dinamo Minsk | KHL | 58 | 10 | 8 | 18 | 4 | 5 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 4 | ||
| 2020–21 | Hershey Bears | AHL | 16 | 2 | 5 | 7 | 2 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2021–22 | Hershey Bears | AHL | 42 | 8 | 16 | 24 | 10 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | ||
| 2021–22 | Washington Capitals | NHL | 33 | 3 | 6 | 9 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2022–23 | Washington Capitals | NHL | 58 | 4 | 11 | 15 | 12 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2022–23 | Hershey Bears | AHL | 9 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 0 | 20 | 5 | 8 | 13 | 2 | ||
| KHL totals | 58 | 10 | 8 | 18 | 4 | 5 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 4 | ||||
| NHL totals | 91 | 7 | 17 | 24 | 12 | — | — | — | — | — | ||||
Awards and honours
| Honour | Year | |
|---|---|---|
| WHL | ||
| Ed Chynoweth Cup | 2019 | |
| First All-Star Team (East) | 2020 | [8] |
| Belarus | ||
| 2021 Belarus Cup – Champion | 2021 | |
| AHL | ||
| Calder Cup | 2023 | [9] |
| International | ||
| WJC D1 – Silver Medal | 2019 | |
| WJC-D1 – Bronze Medal | 2020 | |
References
- "Raiders Select Protas In CHL Import Draft". Raiderhockey.com. June 28, 2018. Retrieved March 13, 2021.
- "Capitals Sign Aliaksei Protas". NHL.com. July 10, 2019. Retrieved March 13, 2021.
- "Capitals Loan Aliaksei Protas to Dinamo Minsk (KHL)". NHL.com. August 7, 2020. Retrieved March 13, 2021.
- Punkari, Lucas (March 11, 2021). "Gotaas excited to return to the ice". Prince Albert Herald. Prince Albert, Saskatchewan. Retrieved March 13, 2021.
- "Capitals Re-assign Aliaksei Protas to Hershey". NHL.com. March 18, 2021. Retrieved March 18, 2021.
- "Capitals' Alexei Protas: Called up". cbssports.com. November 10, 2021. Retrieved December 21, 2021.
- "Aliaksei Protas scores the first NHL goal after diverting the puck from Tony DeAngelo and in - AU Sports". ausports.net. November 28, 2021. Retrieved December 21, 2021.
- "WHL announces 2019-20 Conference First All-Star Teams". Western Hockey League. April 7, 2020. Retrieved July 25, 2022.
- "Sweeter by the dozen: Hershey wins 12th Cup". American Hockey League. June 22, 2023. Retrieved June 22, 2023.
External links
- Biographical information and career statistics from NHL.com, or Eliteprospects.com, or Eurohockey.com, or Hockey-Reference.com, or The Internet Hockey Database