Aliaksei Protas had his first career hat trick in Anaheim on Tuesday night, set up by Alex Ovechkin passing up an empty-netter (which would put him one closer to the record) to give Protas that moment.
Protas’ 28 goals and 30 assists in his fourth season in DC have already more than doubled his career TOTALS coming into 2024-25, and he’s been a beast for the Caps – and someone that, in his weekly visit with Grant & Danny Wednesday, first-year Cap Jakob Chychrun gave high praise too.
“It's really impressive. I couldn't tell you much about his game last year, but just hearing from the guys, the progress he made this summer is just incredible. We should have our whole team go work with whoever he was working with this summer,” Chychrun told Grant. “I think it’s awesome that he has been able to go from,the year he had last year to this year.”
Protas had six goals and 23 assists last year in 78 games, all of those career highs, but he’s doubled the point total and on the verge of a 30-goal season – and it can still only go up for the 24-year-old.
“I don’t want to use the word elite because it's a big word, but he's really getting to the point where he's becoming a stud, and it’s fun to watch,” Chychrun said. “It’s fun to watch him on the ice every day, working at the little parts of his game, and he's getting rewarded in a big way. He’s been incredible for us, a really important player for us.”
Listen to Chychrun’s entire weekly segment above!