Aliaksei Protas ties career high in points just 33 games into the season: ‘It’s amazing, the growth in his game’

The Washington Capitals haven’t even reached the holiday break, but Aliaksei Protas has already had himself a career year. Protas continued his hot season with a pair of goals against the LA Kings Sunday, earning his second multi-goal game and his ninth multi-point game of the 2024-25 campaign.

Protas has now matched his career high in points with 49 games left to go, scoring 29 points (14g, 15a) in the first 33 games of the season. He’s also earned more goals in 2024-25 than he did in the prior 169 games of his NHL career, managing the feat without spending time on the Capitals’ power play.

Asked about his milestone year, Protas credited his teammates for much of his success and named his presence at the net front as a particular strength.

“Thanks to teammates, first of all,” he said. “It’s hard to do it without them. Everybody’s working together. We’ve got a great team in the locker room. Everybody together, we’ve got a tight group. And I think just being more around the net, getting chances out there and being there, being patient, and I think we can find it. So, yeah, that’s what’s been part of the success.”

He later pointed to his offseason training and relationships with the Capitals’ coaching staff as additional factors.

Protas got his first goal of the evening midway through the first period, scoring from the slot to capitalize on a failed zone exit from the Kings.

His second goal of the night came on an empty-netter in the final minute of the game, not only sealing the 3-1 win for the Capitals but also triggering the McNugget Minute promotion to give fans free McNuggets the following day.

“Enjoy the McDonalds. Merry Christmas everyone,” he told the crowd at Capital One Arena after his postgame interview with Monumental Sports Network’s Al Koken.

The milestone game held extra meaning for Protas, whose parents and brother Ilya were in town for the holidays. Though Ilya — who the Capitals drafted this summer — and his mother had seen Aliaksei play in the NHL, visa troubles had kept his father from making trip before now.

“Yeah, it’s awesome,” Protas said postgame. “It’s been a while since — he finally got the visa, which we really appreciate. And, yeah, they’re both — basically, we are here, me and my brother, because of him, because of them both. They did everything they could and we always appreciate it, and that’s for sure special, and that’s for them, 100 percent.”

Though Protas himself was reluctant to brag about his achievements, his teammates were happy to do it on his behalf. Pierre-Luc Dubois, who played on the second line with Protas against LA, couldn’t pick just one trait when asked what has stood out about Protas’ play this year.

“Bit of everything, we say,” Dubois said. “He’s a Hershey prodigy. Did it the right way, Dewey (Brandon Duhaime) keeps saying. When you’re feeling good, you’re feeling good, and Pro is such a smart player. He’s got the longest arms I think I’ve ever seen, matched up with an extremely long stick, so he can get any puck out there and it’s just been really fun to play with [him].”

Dubois revealed that Protas’ long arms had earned him a new nickname during an interview with Monumental Sports Network’s Al Koken at intermission.

“We call him Go-Go-Gadget,” he said smiling. “He has the longest arms I’ve ever seen.”

The moniker nods to Inspector Gadget, an ’80s cartoon featuring a police officer using bionic gadgets built into his body — including those that can to extend his arms and legs to comical lengths.

Head coach Spencer Carbery saw Protas’ time in Hershey firsthand, coaching him in the AHL during the 2020-21 NHL season before the pair reunited in Washington. He spoke with reporters on how Protas’ response to feedback has played a key role in his development.

“He’s one of those unique players that, when you show him stuff, he knows — he’ll take that information and then the next game, you’ll see it come to fruition,” he said postgame. He’ll integrate that into his game…And then he’s such an intuitive player, so when he goes out on the ice and he has a shift — there’s a lot happening and there’s a lot of things going on. And sometimes it takes players, they’ve got to watch their shifts over to see what exactly happened in these situations. He’s a player that knows exactly what happened in every situation. Goes, ‘I know. I should have done this.’ So he can play it back in his mind.

“He’s just got such a high hockey IQ. And I find that’s why he continues to get better, is because he’s so good at learning from mistakes. Because as a young player, he made a ton of mistakes, in Hershey and still in the National Hockey League. It’s about can you go like this and sort of eliminate some of those mistakes. And that’s what he’s done an amazing job of. And that’s why he’s trusted in so many situations to get the job done.”

Those tweaks have seen Protas’ play improve in a variety of situations, making him one of Carbery’s most trusted players.

“He’s doing such a good job at five-on-five and on the penalty kill and in so many different areas inside…how well he’s putting pressure on the opposing defenseman, creating turnovers, good with his stick,” Carbery said. “And then when he’s getting into scoring areas, you can just tell he’s got a ton of confidence. His shot’s improved. He’s hitting his spot. It was a perfect shot, exactly where he needed to finish there as a lefty, low blocker. Happy for him because he’s worked so hard and he’s such a great person and he’s so down to earth, so it’s nice to see him having so much individual success.”

After years of development, Protas has finally had his breakthrough, becoming a force to be reckoned with in the NHL.

“It’s amazing, the growth in his game — even from last year — but I date it back to the Hershey days of what he’s now become,” Carbery said pregame. “And we’re seeing now the potential of Pro and what that looks like and how good he can be in this league at that size and with the skating ability and his shot. He’s such a smart player that now people are really starting to take notice of, ‘Wow.'”