The Washington Capitals are regularly a \u201cheavy\u201d team to play against, but they will be even more so on Wednesday night.<\/p>\n
Ilya Protas is slated to make his NHL debut against the Toronto Maple Leafs, skating on a line between his older brother Aliaksei Protas and Tom Wilson. The three hulking forwards are all at least 6-foot-4-inches tall, with the two Protas brothers standing 6-foot-6. The line weighs a combined 700 pounds.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think it\u2019s going to be the heaviest line in the league,\u201d Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin said pregame<\/a>. \u201cI think so, right? Yeah, so good luck.\u201d<\/p>\n A few other members of the Capitals\u2019 roster echoed Ovechkin\u2019s comments when asked to give their thoughts on the humongous trio. The three are set to be Washington\u2019s second line against the Maple Leafs.<\/p>\n \u201cIn my opinion, Willy is the most soft one on that line, right?\u201d goaltender Logan Thompson joked<\/a>. \u201cIt\u2019s exciting. I\u2019m really happy for Little Pro; he\u2019s earned it. He\u2019s going to show Tom up, I think, today, on that line. I\u2019m really excited to see all three of them out there.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s like 15 of myself,\u201d defenseman Rasmus Sandin added to Sportsnet\u2019s Luke Fox<\/a>. For math\u2019s sake, it\u2019s actually only 3.7 Sandins.<\/p>\n The unique combination of size even had Maple Leafs head coach and former Capitals forward Craig Berube considering a return to the ice.<\/p>\n \u201cWell, I said I\u2019m going to have to suit up tonight to match the size,\u201d Berube said<\/a>. \u201cAnd I\u2019m going to be a little smaller than those three boys. That\u2019s a heavy line. That\u2019s a big line, so it\u2019ll be interesting to see.\u201d<\/p>\n “I might have to suit up tonight.” \ud83d\ude02<\/p>\n Craig Berube on the Leafs facing the Capitals’ line of Tom Wilson and the Protas brothers. pic.twitter.com\/IaG4fpaOph<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) April 8, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n Capitals head coach Spencer Carbery also commented on his decision to give the rookie Protas a relatively big assignment in his debut and on why the spot should make his first steps in the NHL easier.<\/p>\n \u201cI mean, you\u2019re hoping that they\u2019re going to be real difficult with their size, strength, length, ability to hold onto pucks,\u201d Carbery said<\/a>. \u201cBig Pro and Willy have played together a lot over the last three years, so any centerman that we put in there for the most part, whether it\u2019s Dubois or Justin Sourdif earlier in the season, usually it\u2019s a pretty seamless transition for the centerman.<\/p>\n \u201cThey also make it easy for the centerman. They\u2019re always in good spots, really intelligent players, and they play a simple, hard game where they\u2019re really, really easy to read off of with the puck offensively.\u201d<\/p>\n Protas himself has expressed how excited he is to play with big brother and repeated those feelings after Wednesday\u2019s morning skate.<\/p>\n \u201cYeah, it\u2019s big line,\u201d Protas said<\/a>. \u201cI\u2019m really excited to see what we can do and, obviously, going to try my best.\u201d<\/p>\n Puck drop between the two teams is scheduled for 7:30 pm inside Scotiabank Arena. Carbery tends to give debuting players the game\u2019s opening shift, so we should see the 700-pound line to begin the contest.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t