WASHINGTON, DC — The Washington Capitals will have to go a while longer without the services of Aliaksei Protas as he continues to recover from a skate cut to his left foot, while Logan Thompson is progressing in his recovery from an upper-body injury.
Protas has yet to skate since sustaining the cut on April 4 against the Chicago Blackhawks. Though ESPN’s Emily Kaplan reported Saturday that Protas would resume skating on Monday, by Sunday afternoon, Capitals head coach Spencer Carbery said that Protas still needed a few more days before getting back on the ice.
“He’ll be a little bit longer,” Carbery said. “Maybe middle of [this] week.”
After going the first 76 games of the season without missing time, Protas is set to sit out for his fourth-straight game Sunday as the Capitals play their last regular-season contest at home against the Columbus Blue Jackets. The Capitals labeled him out week-to-week in the days after the injury.
Carbery noted Sunday that Protas was progressing as expected, though he couldn’t give an exact timeline on when he would start skating again.
“Everything’s on track,” he said. “And it’s going to come to a point where it’s going to be hard to pinpoint exactly but hoping that he touches the ice at some point this week.”
Protas recorded his best season by far before his injury, more than doubling his previous career high with 66 points (30g, 36a) and becoming the third member of the 2024-25 Capitals to hit 30 goals.
While Protas has been recovering off the ice, Carbery confirmed that Thompson has started to skate again after suffering an upper-body injury on April 2 against the Carolina Hurricanes.
“Skated today, just on his own,” Carbery said. “Not any shots, but he was on the ice today.”
Carbery later highlighted just how impactful Thompson’s performance has been this season, seeing him post a 31-6-6 record with a 2.49 goals-against average, a .910 save percentage, and two shutouts.
“He’s had a phenomenal year: a big reason for our success and earned himself a long-term contract from the organization,” Carbery said.
As of Thursday, Carbery told reporters that it was too early to say whether Protas or Thompson would be ready for Game 1 of the playoffs next weekend.
With the Capitals playing games 81 and 82 against the New York Islanders on Tuesday and the Pittsburgh Penguins on Thursday, neither player appears likely to return for the remainder of the regular season.
