Washington Capitals Star Aliaksei Protas Likely to Miss Playoff Games After Suffering Injury

The Washington Capitals have been rolling in 2024/25, and while all the attention is rightfully on Alexander Ovechkin at this point, there are many, many moving parts that make this team a success, including great goaltending, bounce back seasons and breakout campaigns from key young players.

One of them has been breakout star Aliaksei Protas, who, despite being 6-foot-6 has become a key producer in this lineup, posting an impressive 30 goals and 66 points thus far in 76 games played.

Unfortunately, on the eve of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, the Capitals have now suffered a major loss, as Protas is reportedly considered week-to-week with the team due to a lower-body injury.

With the Stanley Cup Playoffs just a few weeks away, a week-to-week designation makes it almost certain that Protas will miss some post-season actions, which would be a huge blow to a team that believes they can go all the way in 2025.

Currently, Protas is on one of the most team friendly deals in the NHL, as the Capitals saw his major breakout campaign coming, and along with the bounce back season from Pierre-Luc Dubois, they've positioned themselves perfectly to be a deep, versatile team when the Stanley Cup Playoffs roll around.

It's unclear just how long Protas could be out, as he could return before the post-season or in round one, but for now, Capitals fans will have their fingers crossed with the hope that he can return in time to help this team on a deep run.