The Capitals prospect was also the AHL's rookie of the year.
Washington Capitals prospect Ilya Protas received more recognition for his standout AHL rookie campaign on Wednesday, as he was named to the AHL Top Prospects Team.
The Top Prospects Team is determined by the AHL's hockey operations department and AHL general managers and is comprised of three forwards, two defensemen and one goaltender projected to be the top future NHL players.
Forwards Konsta Helenius (Rochester Americans) and Michael Brandsegg-Nygård (Grand Rapids Griffins), along with defensemen Adam Engström (Laval Rocket) and Carter Yakemchuk (Belleville Senators) and goaltender Sergei Murashov (Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins) made up the rest of the team with Protas.
Protas is the first Hershey Bears player to receive the honor after leading his team in goals, power-play goals, power-play points, plus/minus and shots on goal. He led all rookies in scoring this past season with 66 points (29 goals and 37 assists) in 69 games, and had six points in six Calder Cup Playoff games.
This season, Protas won the AHL's Dudley (Red) Garrett Memorial Award as the league's top rookie. He also won four team awards, including the John Travers/Steve Summers Award for best plus/minus, the Kenny Smith Memorial Player of the Game Award, the Jack Gingrich Award for rookie of the yea and and the Mountz Jewelers Team MVP Award.
The 19-year-old earned a call-up with the Capitals at the end of the season, where he picked up a goal and three assists for four points in four games. He is projected to make the full-time NHL jump this coming year.