From Alexeyev to Wilson, we’re taking a look at and grading the 2023-24 season for every player who laced ‘em up for the Washington Capitals for a significant number of games during the campaign, with an eye towards 2024-25. Next up, Aliaksei Protas.
The Bio:
#21 | Wing/Center | Shoots: Left
Height: 6’6” | Weight: 225 | Born: January 6, 2001
Birthplace: Vitebsk, Belarus | Acquired: Drafted in 2019, 3rd round (91st overall)
Cap Hit: $789,167 | Signed Through: 2023-24 | Expiry Status: Restricted Free Agent
The Scouting Report (via CapFriendly):
Report: November 2023 | Rating: 79 | Projection: Third Line
- Trending in a positive direction
- Big body. Long stride. Long reach. Solid puck touch. Ability to shoot the puck in stride.
- Extends plays around the net and along the wall with his reach. Not overly physical.
- Difficult to defend when he boxes out opponents.
- Once up to speed he can be a threat to make plays off the rush. First three strides will likely always be a bit deliberate due to stature.
- Responsible. Doesn’t cheat in the defensive zone. At this stage of his development he’s skating 4F minutes, averaging around 11:00 per game at ES and PK#2.
- Providing secondary offense
- Competes.
The Stats:
The Charts:
The Key Stat: Protas finished the season with a 12.10DFF%RC (Dangerous Fenwick ratio relative to teammates against competition). That leads all forwards in that stat, and essentially means that against elite competition, Protas was the best on the team at winning puck battles.
The Good: It’s hard to pick something that isn’t good about Protas. He’s just so reliable, hard working, and smart. His playmaking is underrated and is blossoming; his defensive stick is top tier; and his brain is always putting him in the right spot even if his skating is a little rough. He’s one of the few players you can throw out on the ice in any situation and trust he’ll do the right thing.
The Bad: If you want to pick on something with Protas it’s his accuracy. He has an impressive shot due to his , he get’s a lot on his whip, but it just doesn’t hit the net enough. With his brain, he puts himself in good position to score but far too often completely misses the net. If he can hone in his shot, he could be a ~15 goal scorer a season. As of now, he’s 13 goals to date in 169 games with a 5.7sh%.
The Video:
The Discussion: What did you think about the Protas contract extension? Do you think he’ll live up to it? Do you think he has the ability to hit 15 goals? Where do you see Protas going forward? And finally, what would it take for you to give Protas a 10 next season?
The Vote: Rate Aliaksei Protas below on a scale of 1-10 (10 being the best) based on his performance relative to his potential and your expectations for the season – so if he had the best year you could have imagined him having, give him a 10; if he more or less played as you expected he would, give him a 5 or a 6; if he had the worst year you could have imagined him having, give him a 1.