{"id":655589,"date":"2026-05-21T02:18:07","date_gmt":"2026-05-21T02:18:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/655589\/"},"modified":"2026-05-21T02:18:07","modified_gmt":"2026-05-21T02:18:07","slug":"aliaksei-protas-calls-capitals-trade-of-john-carlson-very-difficult-the-aftershocks-reverberated-throughout-the-rest-of-the-season","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/655589\/","title":{"rendered":"Aliaksei Protas calls Capitals\u2019 trade of John Carlson \u2018very difficult\u2019: \u2018The aftershocks reverberated throughout the rest of the season\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Washington Capitals\u2019<\/a> trade of alternate captain John Carlson<\/a> marked a watershed moment for the franchise. Long assumed to be a player who would spend his entire career in Washington, the Stanley Cup-winning defenseman was dealt by general manager Chris Patrick<\/a> to the Anaheim Ducks<\/a> in the dead of night<\/a> on March 6 after seventeen seasons with the Capitals. In return, Washington received a 2026 first-round pick \u2014 which became the 18th overall selection<\/a> \u2014 and a 2027 third-round pick.<\/p>\n

The trade deadline deal came as Carlson was on an expiring contract and the Capitals were unlikely to make the postseason, seeking assets for the future.<\/p>\n

The deal of the franchise legend left players in shock, describing it as \u201cthe end of an era.\u201d <\/p>\n

Alex Ovechkin<\/a> called Carlson\u2019s trade<\/a> \u201c[p]robably the toughest day in my career\u2026 personal-wise. It sucks. It\u2019s sad.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tom Wilson added<\/a>, \u201cThere\u2019s certain guys in the locker room that are kind of the North Star.\u201d<\/p>\n

Recently, Aliaksei Protas reflected on Carlson\u2019s trade in a Belarusian language blog post for BetNews<\/a>, revealing that the deal affected the team down the stretch.<\/p>\n

Protas wrote<\/a>, as translated by Google Translate:<\/p>\n

It was a shock to everyone. I never thought something like that was possible.<\/p>\n

I learned about the exchange from my wife. Tanya was with the baby and woke me up in the middle of the night with the shocking news. I immediately thought it was some kind of dream, but then I realized it was true.<\/p>\n

Until the very end, I couldn\u2019t believe John was no longer with us. I didn\u2019t believe it until he himself came to say goodbye to the team. I wouldn\u2019t say it felt like someone had died, but there was a sense of profound loss. Carlson is a true leader. In the Washington locker room, he was the guy who would always help, advise, and motivate. Again, a very serious loss. The aftershocks of John\u2019s departure reverberated throughout the rest of the season; it was very difficult.<\/p>\n

To Protas\u2019s credit, the Capitals did appear to struggle as a team defensively down the stretch without Carlson on the roster. While the team\u2019s five-on-five goal differential was on a similar track as before, the team\u2019s process noticeably worsened.<\/p>\n

First 63 games 5v5 (With Carlson on the team)<\/p>\n

50.5 shot attempts for percentage
55.0 goals for percentage
51.2 expected goals for percentage
51.8 high-danger chance for percentage<\/p>\n

Final 19 games at 5v5 (Without Carlson)<\/p>\n

45.9 shot attempts for percentage
54.7 goals for percentage
47.8 expected goals for percentage
46.3 high-danger chance for percentage<\/p>\n

Some caveats: These statistics were collected from Natural Stat Trick\u2019s \u201cTeam Stats\u201d results by date and are somewhat flawed, as they do not control for variables. For instance, the Capitals roster had injuries and different lineups throughout the season, including Carlson being out with injury himself at times. It also does not take into account the strength of their schedule. The team was also dealt defensively-minded fourth-line center Nic Dowd to the Vegas Golden Knights, which may have contributed to these results, too.<\/p>\n

The team was essentially worse in every single way except winning hockey games. In the first 63 games, they had a .548 points percentage (19th in the standings) with Carlson still on the team, while in the final 19 games, they had a .684 points percentage \u2014 seventh best in the NHL.<\/p>\n

The Capitals also got younger down the stretch, giving their top prospects a closer look. The team signed rookie sensation Cole Hutson to a three-year, entry-level contract<\/a> a week after the trade, giving the 19-year-old defenseman 17:27 of ice time per game. Ivan Miroshnichenko got into the lineup in late March, becoming an every-night player, while Ilya Protas assumed the second-line center spot for the final four games of the regular season.<\/p>\n

While Carlson\u2019s loss was felt in the team\u2019s statistics, what\u2019s less understood is how it impacted the Capitals locker room and certain players who he was close with individually. The day after the trade, veteran Capitals players described the rearguard as a glue guy off the ice who shared tips to younger players<\/a> as if he were another coach on the ice.<\/p>\n

\u201cHis trade is a clear confirmation that the NHL is not just hockey, but also a business, and no hockey player is immune from this,\u201d Protas wrote<\/a>. \u201cLuckily, John is doing well in his new position. Anaheim made the playoffs for the first time in a long time, thanks in part to his help. He\u2019s playing great, and I wish him nothing but luck. And we need to keep moving forward, too.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Washington Capitals\u2019 trade of alternate captain John Carlson marked a watershed moment for the franchise. Long assumed…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":655590,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[66],"tags":[385,99],"class_list":["post-655589","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\/655589","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=655589"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/655589\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/655590"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=655589"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=655589"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=655589"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}