Capitals Make Multiple Selections in 2024 NHL Draft
Picks include Terik Parascak, Ilya Protas, and Miroslav Satan
The Protas family (via the Caps)
The 2024 NHL Draft took place on June 28-29, as Capitals GM Brian MacLellan made a slew of moves to help benefit the team.
This year, the Caps made eight total selections in the Draft, which succeeded the amount of players picked in 2023 with six. The eight total picks by Washington are also the most since 2012 when the team made 10 picks.
In the first round that took place on Friday, Washington selected Canadian right wing Terik Parascak with the 17th overall pick. Parascak, 18, previously played for the WHL’s Prince George Cougars, where he amassed 105 points (43 goals, 62 assists) in 68 games, the third-best on the team and eighth in the WHL.
On Saturday, the Capitals selected seven prospects, including defensemen Cole Hutson (43rd overall) and Leon Muggli (52nd overall), left wings Ilya Protas (75th overall) and Eriks Mateiko (90th overall), goaltender Nicholas Kempf (114th overall), and centers Petr Sikora (178th overall) and Miroslav Satan (212th overall).
Hutson, 18, spent the 2023-24 season with USA Hockey’s National Team Development Program’s Under-18 team, recording 51 points (15 goals, 36 assists) in 51 games. Hutson led the team’s defensemen in goals, assists, points, power-play goals (5), game-winning goals (3), and shots on goal (104).
Washington acquired the No. 43 pick used on Hutson after trading away Beck Malenstyn to the Buffalo Sabres. According to Sammi Silber of The Hockey News, MacLellan traded away the veteran Malenstyn because while they didn’t want to move him, the opportunity for a strong defensive prospect was too good to pass up.
Muggli, 17, spent 2023-24 with EV Zug of the Swiss National League (NL), where he led all under-18 skaters with 12 points (3 goals, 9 assists) in 42 games. Muggli’s 12 points were the most ever by a defenseman age 17 or younger in league history.
Protas, 17, was ranked ninth in North American left wings and 49th among all North American skaters by NHL Central scouting. He recorded 51 points (14 goals, 37 assists) in 37 games with the Des Moines Buccaneers (USHL) in 2023-24. Ilya is the younger brother of Aliaksei Protas, who was drafted by the Capitals in the 2019 Draft.
Mateiko, 18, recorded 43 points (23 goals, 20 assists) in 49 games with the Saint John Sea Dogs of the Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League (QMJHL) in 2023-24.
Kempf, 18, appeared in 37 games for the National Team Development Program’s Under-18 team in 2023-24, posting a record of 23-7-0 with a 2.99 goals-against average, a .897 save percentage, and three shutouts.
Sikora, 18, recorded 40 points (13 goals, 27 assists) in 30 regular-season games with HC Ocelari Trinec’s U-20 team (Czechia-Jr.) and seven points (5 goals, 2 assists) in four playoff games in 2023-24, helping his club win the league championship.
Satan, 18, registered 30 points (14 goals, 16 assists) in 26 games with HC Slovan Braislava’s U-20 team (Slovakia-Jr.) last season. He is the son of 14-year NHL veteran Miroslav Satan.
