ANNAPOLIS, MD \u2014 After a successful debut year in the OHL, Ilya Protas knew he needed a strong offseason of training before returning to DC in the fall. Luckily for him, he knew just the right coach for the job: Aliaksei Protas, his older brother and current Capitals winger.<\/p>\n
\u201c(I focused on) what my coach told me to do \u2014 it was my brother,\u201d the younger Protas said at Capitals Rookie Camp on Friday. \u201cSo what he wanted me to do, I did.\u201d<\/p>\n
The two brothers have long had a close relationship: Aliaksei served as something of a \u201csecond mom\u201d<\/a> to Ilya in childhood and was thrilled when the Capitals drafted Ilya<\/a> last June. But that didn\u2019t make him an easy mentor, Ilya said.<\/p>\n \u201cYeah, sometimes (he\u2019s demanding),\u201d Ilya told reporters with a laugh, \u201cbut it doesn\u2019t go great. We always \u2014 being with each other at the practices \u2014 kind of yell. He yells more at me, though.\u201d<\/p>\n On the ice, the pair\u2019s offseason training stayed largely the same\u2014something Ilya attributed to their excellent performances in 2024-25. Aliaksei was arguably the Capitals\u2019 best player in a breakout season, more than doubling his previous career high with 66 points (30g, 36a) in 76 games. Ilya, meanwhile, ranked second in the OHL in scoring in his first year with the Windsor Spitfires, recording 124 points (50g, 74a) and making the league\u2019s Second All-Star Team.<\/p>\n Instead, much of Aliaksei\u2019s instruction came in the gym. With Ilya looking to make the jump to professional hockey this season, off-ice conditioning took on a larger role.<\/p>\n \u201cProbably most of (what Aliaksei told me to do) was conditioning and physical, stuff in gym,\u201d he said. \u201cBecause my next step, I want to make pro hockey. And I\u2019ve got to be ready \u2014 my body and physicality is a big part of it.\u201d<\/p>\n Ilya\u2019s destination for this season could depend wildly on his performance at camp. Since he was drafted out of the USHL, he\u2019s not bound to the NHL-CHL transfer agreement that normally bars teenage prospects from leaving the CHL for the AHL, offering him the option of playing on the Hershey Bears. He could also return to the Spitfires, though he was left off the team\u2019s preseason roster<\/a>, or even end up spending time with the Capitals, a prospect Aliaksei raised over the summer<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cI want to make a team, that\u2019s my main goal,\u201d Ilya said. \u201cBut I want to play pro this year and I think that\u2019s going to be my biggest step. So I\u2019ve got be ready for it and getting prepared for it.\u201d<\/p>\n Though Ilya acknowledged that his brother could be a tough mentor at times, he stood by that approach, especially since Aliaksei held himself to those same high standards.<\/p>\n \u201cYeah, but it\u2019s always understandable, because preseason, offseason, it\u2019s tough time.\u201d Ilya said. \u201dHe\u2019s always hard on himself, for sure. You see how he works and you\u2019ve got to work the same way with him.\u201d<\/p>\n And Aliaksei\u2019s support goes far beyond just coaching. Ilya emphasized how much he values being able to go to his brother for advice as he navigates the transition to North America.<\/p>\n \u201cOh, it\u2019s everything,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s literally everything. Every question I got, I would always call him or talk to him because he was on the same spot in the same way like where I am right now. So he always helped me with that and that\u2019s great.\u201d<\/p>\n Both brothers returned to DC in recent weeks ahead of Rookie Camp and Training Camp, allowing them to spend time together, though Aliaksei drew the line at letting Ilya move in with him.<\/p>\n \u201cNo, he didn\u2019t let me, doesn\u2019t let me stay in his house,\u201d Ilya said with a grin, later explaining that his lack of a driver\u2019s license made it easier to stay at a hotel near the rink. \u201cBut for sure I\u2019m going there a lot after the practices and (am) always welcome to be there, I hope.\u201d<\/p>\n He\u2019s even taken on some babysitting duties for Aliaksei\u2019s two-year-old daughter Alicia, something he called the \u201cbest time in my life.\u201d<\/p>\n Following a few days of Rookie Camp in Annapolis, Ilya will look to impress once Training Camp kicks off next week. And after a summer of in-depth coaching, Aliaksei\u2019s biggest piece of advice to Ilya was plenty straightforward.<\/p>\n \u201cJust work hard and be a good person, first of all,\u201d Ilya recounted. \u201cYou\u2019re a good player if you\u2019re here, just enjoy the time with the guys and where you are right now.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"ANNAPOLIS, MD \u2014 After a successful debut year in the OHL, Ilya Protas knew he needed a strong…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":152637,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[66],"tags":[385,99],"class_list":["post-152636","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nhl","tag-nhl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/152636","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=152636"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/152636\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/152637"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=152636"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=152636"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=152636"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}