frontsfan67
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- Dec 3, 2022
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Mods he plays for the Windsor spitifires now in the OHL
W Ilya Protas - Windsor Spitfires, OHL (2024, 75th, WSH)
- Thread starter Pavel Buchnevich
- Start date
If he ends up being as good as his brother, he'll be a total steal. Aleksei would go top 10 in a 2019 redraft.
Lou Sassole
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- Oct 15, 2020
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Fixed to Ruin
Come wit it now!
Pavel Buchnevich
"Pavel Buchnevich The Fake"
I’m personally not that concerns, he have the IQ, the shot and the physicality to be a good player in the NHL. Is skating will get better with time. His force are all qualities than can’t be learn.
I think the caps are ok with knowing they can improve his skating like they did with his older brother.
Believe there were also some concerns with Cristals skating at draft and they made an effort to focus on it and it's improved. Same for wilson over the years and others.
Believe there were also some concerns with Cristals skating at draft and they made an effort to focus on it and it's improved. Same for wilson over the years and others.
Frolov 6'3
Unregistered User
This skating thing is getting annoying. As Kings fan I have seen a ton of bad skaters becoming great NHL players. Vilardi is the last one in line.
So far a good pick.
So far a good pick.
And so many fast players that can't play in the NHL. I would take a high IQ players with a below average skating than the contrary.
Frolov 6'3
Unregistered User
Yup, people will counter that a ton of bad skaters have never seen NHL surface but being 6”5” and 58 points in 34 games played, you deserve the benefit of the doubt right now.
frederixx
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qc14
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Washington was the old Dallas. They've been doing this for literally decades now and McPhee/McLellan/Mahoney/Patrick never get any credit for it.
Same was said of his brother and look how that's turned out. Skating is the most teachable skill there is especially in today's game
SecretaryofDefense5
Registered User
I’d argue his brother was slower and look at him now. You can fix skating, but you can’t really teach hockey sense.
Having a good IQ and that size/reach can certainly help patch issues with not great skating as well. But like others have said, the Capitals clearly are an organization that believes in their ability to improve players skating and have been showing it for a few years.
Every player in the 3rd round is going to have question marks.
Nobody is calling Protas a blue-chip. But he's a damn good prospect and a steal in the 3rd round. I hope he pans out simply to see these two are on the same line. Honestly it would be a bit comedic if the Caps were about to ice a line where every player is 6'4 or taller.
Nobody is calling Protas a blue-chip. But he's a damn good prospect and a steal in the 3rd round. I hope he pans out simply to see these two are on the same line. Honestly it would be a bit comedic if the Caps were about to ice a line where every player is 6'4 or taller.
Pavel Buchnevich
"Pavel Buchnevich The Fake"
Actually, the post above mine kind of is calling him that.
For every Aleksei Protas or Jason Robertson, there’s an Arthur Kaliyev or Adam Ruzicka. And I think it’s also dangerous for any of the “well Aleksei made it, so why not Ilya” type of rhetoric. This is how Alex Nylander got drafted so high. It doesn’t always work out.
And let’s be real, Washington picked him because it worked out for Aleksei. It’s not a coincidence. Another team (and probably later in the draft) likely picks him otherwise, so it seems Washington is taking that risky plunge.
Not to say it’s looking like a bad gamble. He’s doing well this season. But at the same time, it’s a little hard to completely measure everyone’s progress by their scoring. Of course the bigger subplot with Ilya will be that none of it matters if he can score at elite levels in the NHL. But most elite junior scorers don’t do that in the NHL. It usually becomes about how the rest progresses to be able to round out their games enough. So with Protas, he’s doing the thing that people don’t really doubt and the things that’ll likely be the test probably don’t actually get tested until he hits the AHL.
Look at Liam Greentree. Scored like crazy for the same OHL team last season (and Greentree the 26OA is comfortably enough ahead in PPG, for anyone that claims Protas would be a first rounder). People were claiming he would be a huge steal. Might go top 10 or at least top 20. Goes to the World U18’s for Canada. Was really disappointing. Couldn’t keep up. Pace was too much for him it looked like. It kind of exposed all his OHL scoring.
That’s what can happen and it will be a challenge to adjust for Greentree and Protas once they leave the junior hockey environment for more competitive hockey. It’s the same gambit for Cristall. Parascak. Will likely be the same with Hutson too. Washington has done some good drafting. Not saying these picks weren’t good. Protas is looking like a solid bet in the third round, but the idea that because a big guy is scoring a lot in a junior league that the concerns go away because he’s big is a little misleading I think. And maybe that’s not your basic argument, but I’m not sure the concerns with Protas are all of a sudden disappearing or have been tested yet. That is unless someone believes he will simply score enough in the NHL that his skating doesn’t matter.
At the same time, I don’t want to sound like I’m blaming him for doing well this year scoring-wise. He can only score where he plays, whether the weaknesses get tested or not. We’ll find out down the road. I’m a little skeptical until he starts not looking slow.
Frolov 6'3
Unregistered User
What is wrong with Arthur Kaliyev who was doing okay until small injuries hit him and has yet to play one NHL game this year. Ruzicka and Kaliyev have two different careers so far. Odd.
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I called him a Blue chip ?
I’m a redraft I think he will go in the first round, that’s not means he’s a bluechip.
He just surpasse player like :
Beaudoin
Hemming
Gridin
Emery
Létourneau
Etc…
Every prospect have a risk that he didn’t translate to the nhl. Even some top 5 pick
wickedwitch
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- Mar 21, 2010
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The term bet somewhat implies that Caps are rolling the dice here. And while all draft picks are somewhat "rolls of the dice," I don't think that's exactly what's happening with Ilya Protas and the Caps. I believe the Caps are targeting player in the draft whose draft rankings have been hurt by poor skating, because the Caps see poor skating as causing a drafting inefficiency. The Caps proactively work at fixing skating and have multiple prospects where they have had success, so they can take advantage of this. Parascak, Cristall, and Protas are all recent examples of them targeting that type of player.
Nobody is saying that his skating is completely fixed, just that between his other qualities and the Caps ability to fix poor skating, Protas should have a good chance of succeeding.
Pavel Buchnevich
"Pavel Buchnevich The Fake"
But I mean you’re kind of missing my point then. You pick out a bunch of guys you feel he’s above.
And I’m presuming, but I suspect it’s based largely on how each player is scoring.
Not every player has the same skillset and same things that will make or break the gambit made by each team or each pick.
I think judging what a re-draft would look like based on scoring is overly simplistic. It can work the other way, you know. A guy who isn’t scoring and seeing much traction in the box score might be progressing well and on pace to reach their potential and the scorer might not be scoring enough for what their profile is or might not be making progress in other areas.
That’s kind of my point with Protas. Everyone knew he was skilled before the season. Unless you are saying that he looks a ton faster and he doesn’t look like he has skating problems, it’s a little bit of a fruitless argument I think. Unless he’s now such a good scorer that he projects to be an elite NHL scorer, even with bad skating.
Yeah I understand your point.
The player that I put above its player I don’t saw any progression except for Létourneau that it still soon to project.
I didn’t watch all the games of Protas of course, but of what I’m seeing, if he can fix his skating, I feel he could be a good NHL players. His skating it’s a little bit awkward that I will give it to you but he have all the other tools to progress. I would like to see him in the AHL next year to have a better opinion.
His size, puck protection and IQ make him a good prospect to follow.
