ARLINGTON, V.A. — The Washington Capitals saw a welcome sight on Sunday, as Aliaksei Protas took the ice for some individual work ahead of practice.

Protas was skating on his own and in a powder blue non-contact jersey. After some work on his own, he left the ice before his teammates.

The 23-year-old suffered a skate cut to the foot on April 4 against the Chicago Blackhawks and has been out of the lineup since, while being kept off the ice.

Sunday marks a significant step forward, but also indicates that there are ways to go for Protas before he is ready to draw back into the lineup. Usually, a player will get back on the ice and in a non-contact jersey on his own before joining the group. From there, he will have to work his way up to regular contact and get repeated reps before being cleared to return to the lineup.

Coach Spencer Carbery wouldn't give specific updates on Protas or other ailing players a day before Protas' return to the ice, saying that there were multiple players "working through some things" while adding that the lineup for Game 1 remains unclear at this time.

Getting Protas back will be important for the Capitals going forward, though. The 6-foot-6 winger had a career-high 30 goals and 36 assists for 66 points in 76 games. He was the team's top player at 5-on-5 and is a key penalty killer, and ranked third in the NHL in plus-minus.

Washington opens its first-round series against the Montreal Canadiens on Monday.