Former Prince Albert Raiders forward Alexei Protas was recalled from Hershey by the Washington Capitals this morning. (Lucas Chudleigh/Apollo Multimedia)

By Rob Mahon

Leason and Protas in NHL

Ex-Raider Protas makes NHL debut two days after Leason

Nov 1, 2021 | 5:00 PM

The list of Prince Albert Raiders alumni to play in the NHL grew by one over the weekend as Brett Leason played his first game with the Washington Capitals. It will grow again this evening, as Alexei Protas will skate on a line with him.

Protas, who’s posted four points in six games in the American Hockey League this year, earned a recall from the Capitals this morning thanks to an injury to Nick Dowd. When he makes his NHL debut tonight, he’ll become the fourth member of the 2018-19 WHL championship winning Raiders team to play in the NHL.

“With all of our players, that’s why they come here,” said Raiders coach Marc Habscheid, who coached both Leason and Protas during the championship season. “They want to either get an education from the league, or most of them want the opportunity to play in the NHL. To see those guys do that is exciting for sure.”

Leason arrived in Prince Albert via trade with the Tri-City Americans during the 2017-18 season and quickly turned a corner offensively. During the 2018-19 season, he emerged as a superstar with 89 points in 55 games, followed by 25 points in 22 playoff games. After that season, Washington drafted him in the second round.

“He, as a 19-year-old, had a great season,” Habscheid said. “He put up some big numbers. That was a championship year that he was a big part of. He played at the World Juniors, so it was nice to see those guys have the success that they did.”

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Washington was obviously watching the Raiders closely that season because they selected Protas in the third round of that same draft. While his transition to North American hockey and culture took time, he learned both well in Prince Albert, and has only kept developing since.

“His (development) was probably more difficult than anybody’s because he came from Belarus,” said Habscheid. “Not only is the hockey different but culturally it’s different. His billets were a big part of it, great billets who helped him in terms of culturally getting used to him over here. The big thing with Alex was he wanted to learn, he wanted to get better. He had way more questions than answers and he was a sponge for information.”

Both Protas and Leason came into their own and attracted NHL attention after arriving in Prince Albert, but Habscheid was quick to deflect credit to the players for improving their game and earning their way up the ranks.

“These guys are responsible for themselves,” he said. “They put the work in and they’ve done well for themselves and they deserve the credit, for sure. The fact that they were in Prince Albert, for sure, we’re proud of that and we’re proud of them, but those guys are responsible for their success and we’re happy that they are successful.”

Parker Kelly and Noah Gregor are the other members of that team who have played NHL games with the Ottawa Senators and San Jose Sharks respectively.

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rob.mahon@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @RobMahonPxP