Ilya Protas: AHL's Top Rookie, NHL Debut

0:00It's April 24th. Welcome in. This is NHL News Today, where Team Coverage meets AI. Ilya Protess, the 19-year-old center for the Hershey Bears, just snagged the Dudley Garrett Memorial Award as the top rookie in the American, Hockey League for the 2025-26 season. He's the first from Hershey to win it since Ron Hexdal back in 1985-86, and he led all first-year players with 66 points. Protess dominated the regular season, racking up 29 goals, and 37 assists over 69 games. That put him 6 overall in the league, and made him Hershey's leader in goals, powerplay tallies, and plus-minus at plus-17. His numbers rank 4th best ever for an AHL rookie. He stayed locked in for the playoffs, scoring an empty netter in a two-nothing shut-out during Hershey's sweep of the Bridgeport Islanders. His two points tie him for 6th and early post-season scoring, while team-made Boddan Triniyev

1:00leased the Bears with 3. Now Hershey's headed to the Atlantic Division semifinals against the Providence Bruins or Wilkes-Barris Granson-Pingwins. Protess got a taste of the big leagues with a four-game call-up to the Washington Capitals, where he notched his first NHL goal and four points total. As the younger brother of Caps Ford, Alliakse Protess, fans call him Little Pro, and even Alex Ovechkin shouted him out as a future star alongside other young guns. With Washington sitting on about 36 million in cap space this offseason, prospects like Little Pro are key to building a playoff contender, around vets like Ovechkin. Keep an eye on this kid, he's just getting started.