Ilya Protas

Aliaksei Protas is putting words to the kind of front-office shock that usually lingers long after the transaction call ends. RMNB reports he called the Capitals’ trade of John Carlson “very difficult” and said the aftershocks ran through the rest of the season, which tells you this was more than just another roster shuffle. In hockey, big moves are sold as necessity, but the room often spends the rest of the year trying to make peace with them.

Aliaksei Protas has gone five seasons without a power-play goal, which is the kind of odd little stat that lives rent-free in a locker room until somebody’s brother makes it awkward. Now Ilya Protas has jumped into the story with a power-play goal just two games into his NHL career, and that makes for a family comparison nobody could have scripted better.

Aliaksei Protas, Ovechkin's trusty linemate on the Capitals' top line, drops a bold take that the Great 8 has the legs to chase Gretzky's goal record well into his 40s. Protas knows the grind better than most, having logged heavy minutes alongside him all season, and he breaks down the keys - from Ovi's offseason regimen to his uncanny ability to stay fresh amid the league's brutal schedule.