Washington disclosed on Wednesday that three of its players — Ilya Protas, Clay Stevenson, and Ivan Miroshnichenko — were being loaned down to its top minor-league club.
Each man had dressed for the team's final regular-season game one night earlier, a Tuesday tilt with Columbus, and all three now head south to rejoin a Bears squad still fighting to lock down a postseason berth.
A meeting with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton awaits Hershey on Wednesday evening. The league's own playoff guide lays out two routes to clinching: a Hershey victory paired with Lehigh Valley losing to Springfield, or alternatively an overtime setback for Hershey paired with Lehigh Valley dropping a game in regulation. (Details come via the AHL.)
Protas has been a revelation since first cracking the NHL lineup on April 8, registering one goal and three helpers over a four-game span. The high point arrived in Pittsburgh on April 11, when the youngster delivered three points — netting his initial big-league marker and feeding two more, as Aliaksei, his sibling, factored into each of the plays.
For much of the season Ilya centered a line flanked by Tom Wilson on one side and Aliaksei on the other, a unit ranked among the heftiest in hockey — tipping the scales near 700 pounds and standing, on average, north of 6'5".
Down in the minors, the youngster sits atop both his own club's scoring chart and the leaguewide rookie race, having compiled 34 assists and 28 tallies for a 62-point haul across 66 appearances.
Returning to Washington at the deadline, Miroshnichenko dressed for nine of the club's final 19 contests and wrapped his big-league campaign having logged a pair of goals and a single assist in 13 outings. His debut multi-goal night came against Utah on March 26.
His Bears production this year sits at a dozen goals and 19 helpers — 31 points in all — through 38 games.
When Charlie Lindgren went down hurt during Washington's closing stretch, Stevenson stepped between the pipes. He guarded the cage in Tuesday's narrow 2-1 defeat of Columbus, denying 27 of the 28 attempts he saw and collecting the night's top star honor. Across his four big-league outings this season, the netminder wound up with a goals-against figure of 2.00, a save percentage sitting at .921, and a ledger of three victories versus a single loss.
With Wednesday's game factored in, three regular-season dates remain for Hershey, the schedule wrapping up over a home weekend that pits the Bears against Rochester and Bridgeport on consecutive nights.
What follows is the full announcement Washington put out:
## Capitals Loan Ivan Miroshnichenko, Ilya Protas and Clay Stevenson to Hershey ### Trio returned to Hershey following the conclusion of Washington's season ARLINGTON, Va. – The Washington Capitals have loaned forwards Ivan Miroshnichenko and Ilya Protas and goaltender Clay Stevenson to the Hershey Bears of the American Hockey League (AHL), senior vice president and general manager Chris Patrick announced today. Miroshnichenko, 22, recorded three points (2g, 1a) in 13 games with Washington this season. In 38 games with Hershey, Miroshnichenko has recorded 31 points (12g, 19a). The 6'1", 205-pound forward ranks tied for second on the Bears in power-play goals (4), sixth in points and seventh in goals. In addition, Miroshnichenko ranks third on Hershey in points-per-game (0.82) among skaters with at least two games played. Protas, 19, made his NHL debut with the Capitals on April 8 at Toronto and recorded four points (1g, 3a) in four games with Washington. On April 13 at Pittsburgh, Protas (1g-2a–3p) scored his first career goal and became the first teenager to have a three-point game with the Capitals since Scott Stevens (1g-2a–3p) on March 1, 1984. In 66 games with Hershey this season, Protas has recorded a team-high 62 points (28g, 34a). The 6'6", 225-pound forward leads AHL rookies in points and ranks second in goals and tied for third in assists among first-year players. Among all AHL skaters, Protas ranks tied for eighth in goals and points. Protas leads the Bears in goals, points, power-play goals, power-play points (17), shots (141) and plus-minus (+16). On April 4 against Hartford, Protas recorded a career-high six points (1g, 5a), which marked the AHL's first six-point game since 2019. Stevenson, 27, stopped 27 of 28 shots against (.964 sv%) to earn his third win of the season on April 14 at Columbus. The 6'5", 196-pound goaltender posted a 3-1-0 record with a 2.00 goals-against average and a .921 save percentage in four games with Washington this season. Stevenson has also appeared in 34 games with Hershey this season, posting a 16-12-3 record with a 2.64 goals-against average and a .910 save percentage.