Aliaksei Protas Can He Continue this Pace

[SAS]

He’s playing with Ovi and playing at almost a ppg pace. Can he continue this pace? How many points do you think he ends up with this year?

 

[qc14]

I don't think he'll continue to be almost a PPG the rest of the season. That said, the underlying numbers for the Protas-Ovi-Strome line are incredible, Protas was already an underrated passer, and he (and McMichael) made truly unbelievable improvements to their skating over the summer. Would not surprise me to see him finish with around 50 points with almost all of them at 5v5

 

[Silky mitts]

Protas Strome and Ovy have a combined shooting % over 20% it isn't sustainable but Protas can average .5 ppg the rest of the way and be around 50 points, maybe 60 points

 

[Hivemind]

Can he continue this current pace? Not likely.
Will he establish a new career high in offensive production? Very likely.

 

[Ovechkins Wodka]

negative Nancy’s in here. The question should be how much better can he get

 

[Kazer]

No.

His shooting percentage will come back to earth. He can easily shoot a career high (15-18% isn't out of the question versus his previous high water mark of 8.8%), but he is not going to finish the year shooting 22.7%.

And then his on-ice shooting percentage is 19.5% at five-on-five (this is a measure of how all Caps players are shooting while he is on ice). For context, McDavid's career number is 12.9%.

The great news is that he's on pace for roughly 30 goals and 75 points. He could slow down and still finish with 20+ goals and 60 points which would be an outstanding year for a player who has never cracked 30 points or 10 goals in a single year.

On a semi-related note, McMichael's OiSH% is a far more reasonable 14.3% at 5 on 5. The goal-scoring will slow down, but the points production is sustainable based on that measure (which I have found to have a ton of predictive power for guys who get off to hot starts and eventually slow down).

 

[trick9]

I hope so.

That said his PK metrics are great and he's a good defensive player so points-wise if he finishes with 'only' 60 points this season he's still arguably the best non-ELC contract in the league.

That said he's improved after each season... i'm expecting that to continue.

 

[Midnight Judges]

It's not reasonable to expect that.

If he clears 50 points this season, that has to be considered a very nice success.

 

[Ridley Simon]

I want my 80pt proclamation to be prescient!!!

@PlushMinus

It’s way early though. So much can change.

 

[PlushMinus]

I want my 80pt proclamation to be prescient!!!

@PlushMinus

It’s way early though. So much can change.

The drinks would have to be on me if you turn out to be right!

As mentioned above - anything over 50 would be a very good season for him, and might create a stepping stone for further improvement in following seasons.

His contract might end up being even better than Strome's. I wonder how our top line $$$ compares to others around the league.

 

[895]

26 points in 28 games while being a forechecking beast.

Guy's a legit first line winger right now.

 

[DWGie26]

26 points in 28 games while being a forechecking beast.

Guy's a legit first line winger right now.

And it’s not just his points. He just looks great out there. Speed. Gaps to close. Long reach and active stick. Wins puck battles. And tonight shooting with confidence.

And we could have another Pro coming!

 

[Ridley Simon]

Cannot sleep on the Protas brothers. Like ever.

 

[Silky mitts]

Cannot sleep on the Protas brothers. Like ever.

I did not expect to have heard of so many of the people ahead of Lil Pro in OHL scoring, he's 10th and I recognize 5 guys in front of him, 4 super high 1sts

 

[PAZ]

Any reason Protas doesnt get any PP time on the 2nd unit?

 

[stephenball]

I think Carbery is fantastic and is probably the best coach in the league, I think if there’s one thing that I disagree with him most on it’s Raddysh over Protas on PP2. Everything Raddysh brings to the unit Protas is way better at.

 

[hb13xchamps]

Only thing I can think of is that it’s a way to manage his minutes. He’s currently averaging 15:34 per game with 1:28 of that being PK time. Thats the most minutes he’s had so far in his career. Maybe they don’t want to potentially burn him out come playoff time?

 

[kicksavedave]

Great article on Big Pro's development.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2024/12/26/aliaksei-protas-capitals-season/

 

[Ridley Simon]

Great article on Big Pro's development.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2024/12/26/aliaksei-protas-capitals-season/

Ilya may be even bigger, too.

This is awesome. Cornerstone for the franchise. Truly

 

[QuadrupleDeke]

 

[BallardEra]

 

[SkinsFan09]

He's a tremendous two way player at even strength. If the Capitals go all the way this year, it's because he got healthy in time.

 

[EXTRAS]

He's a tremendous two way player at even strength. If the Capitals go all the way this year, it's because he got healthy in time.

Will he ever get pp time?

 

[DWGie26]

Protas is only 24. He was 6th in forwards in TOI/gm at 16:27. Lowest of the top six (Dowd 7th). Wilson was tops at 18:44 and he plays on both PK and PP. Pro will start to be given more minutes and I suspect that some of that will come on the PP. It’s coming!

 

[Roshi]

With how passive our PP1 normally is, Protas should get in there. He can take the aggressive PK's head on protecting the puck with size and takeaways, get us some time to get the set up going. We are too easily knocked out of the puck by aggresive PK-teams, like Hurricanes.