As the Washington Capitals continue to put work in ahead of camp with informal skates, the group continues to get bigger, as the Protas brothers joined the workouts on Thursday.
Per Monumental Sports Network's Tarik El-Bashir, Aliaksei and Ilya Protas are back in town and on the ice at MedStar Capitals Iceplex.
The full group now consists of Cole Hutson, Justin Sourdif, Clay Stevenson, Dylan Strome, Alex Tuch, Pierre-Luc Dubois, Anthony Beauvillier, Ethen Frank, Vincent Desharnais, Boone Jenner, Pierre-Luc Dubois, Alex Tuch, Jonny Brodzinski, Matt Roy, Dylan McIlrath, Timothy Liljegren and Martin Fehervary, along with prospects Lynden Lakovic, Terik Parascak, Petr Sikora and Eriks Mateiko.
Aliaksei Protas is coming off another productive season, where he had 25 goals and 27 assists for 52 points in 76 games while continuing to dominate 5-on-5 play. He'll continue to play a pivotal role there and on special teams, while getting the chance to work with some of the new additions and of course his younger brother in Ilya.
Ilya, is primed to make the full-time jump to the NHL this season. After winning AHL rookie of the year with 66 points in 69 games in his first year with the Hershey Bears, Ilya earned the call-up to D.C. at the end of last season and had four points in four games. He will slot in at center.
More players will continue to join informal skates in the coming days ahead of rookie and training camp, which officially kicks off on Sept. 17 in Arlington.
