Ilya Protas has yet to play his first NHL game, but he’s already plenty familiar with the Capitals organization. After years of watching his brother Aliaksei Protas play in Washington, Ilya became part of the team himself when the Caps picked him in the third round of the 2024 NHL draft.
While his primary focus lies on his season with the OHL’s Windsor Spitfires, currently up 3-2 in a second-round series against the Kitchener Rangers, the Washington Capitals prospect also has an eye on his future and spent time earlier in the year visiting his brother and future NHL squad in DC.
Protas sat down for a recent interview with VseProSport’s Daria Tuboltseva, where he talked about how Aliaksei factors into his biggest hockey dreams.
“[Playing with my brother] is one of the big dreams,” Protas said, per a translation via Google Translate. “The most important thing is to win the Stanley Cup with him.”
Both brothers joined the Capitals in a similar fashion, with the team trading up to draft them in the third round, and both have made the organization look like geniuses with their performances this season.
Aliaksei, 24, just completed a career-best year, posting 66 points (30g, 36a) in 76 games for the Capitals. Meanwhile, Ilya finished second in OHL regular-season scoring with a staggering 124 points (50g, 74a) in 61 games, and came into Friday’s games tied with linemate Liam Greentree for the league’s postseason scoring lead at 24 points (4g, 20a).
The two have yet to play in an official NHL game together with the Capitals, but head coach Spencer Carbery gave Little Pro his NHL preseason debut alongside Aliaksei against the Boston Bruins last September. Due to their five-year age gap, the game was the first they had ever played on the same team in any setting.
“Before this, we always trained separately because we have an age difference, and I used to have training camps with teams,” Protas told Tuboltseva. “I started the season in mid-July, and he in September. Last summer, our schedules coincided. This year, too, we will be together. I think we will now spend all the preseasons together. The age difference is no longer noticeable. I think we became very close when I grew up. It helped me grow as a person and as a player.”
Protas credits his father for initially getting him into hockey and his older brother for pushing him to become the player he is today.
“There was rivalry,” Protas said. “I was always such a prankster. Lyokha (Aliaksei) always taught me and put me in my place. He was always an example for me. He is the best brother, no questions about that. From an early age, I always looked up to him.”
Little Pro already blew past Big Pro’s best junior season, topping it by 44 points this year. Aliaksei’s best, 80 points, came with the WHL’s Prince Albert Raiders during the 2019-20 campaign. Despite the discrepancy in offense, Ilya says he believes the two are similar players overall, especially thanks to their size — Aliaksei leads the Capitals in height at 6’6″ with Ilya just an inch behind at 6’5″.
“Yes, we are similar in our playing style,” Ilya said. “We are also both large players, tall.”
“He is more calm, rational,” he added. “From an early age, he was a teacher for me. And I am more energetic. But in general, we are similar.”
The younger Protas signed his three-year, entry-level contract with the Capitals out of development camp in July. Given his exceptional first year in the OHL, he could make his dream come true and play with his brother in a regular-season game with the Caps if he impresses enough out of training camp in the fall.
However, it’s more likely that Protas ends up back with the Spitfires or in the AHL with the Hershey Bears. Since he was drafted out of the USHL, he is not subject to the NHL-CHL transfer agreement, which bars teenage-aged prospects from leaving their CHL teams for the AHL.
His contract can slide again next year in his age-19 season if he does not play 10 games with the Capitals, meaning he’d become a restricted free agent after the 2028-29 season. Aliaksei is also signed with the Capitals through that year after inking a five-year deal with the club last year.
