MOSCOW, December 20 Belarusian forward of the Washington Capitals Alexey Protas promised to help Russian Ivan Miroshnichenko get comfortable in the National Hockey League (NHL).
On Tuesday, Washington called up Miroshnichenko from the Hershey Bears farm club in the American Hockey League (AHL). The league announced Wednesday that the 19-year-old forward will make his Capitals debut against the New York Islanders on Thursday night, starting at 3:30 a.m. ET.
At a meeting between Miroshnichenko and Washington head coach Spencer Carbury, Protas acted as a translator and also told him that he would show the Russian the path to the NHL. Miroshnichenko himself, answering the coach’s question about his debut, said that he was ready for it.
Miroshnichenko, Washington's 20th overall first-round draft pick in 2022, has 15 points (8 goals, 7 assists) in 27 games this season for Hershey.
In March 2022, Miroshnichenko was diagnosed with Hodgkin's lymphoma, a tumor disease of the lymphatic system. The player underwent treatment in Germany. At the beginning of June of the same year, the forward completed a full course of treatment and returned to training, and in October he began training with the Omsk Wings team of the All-Russian Hockey League (VHL). Miroshnichenko made his debut for Avangard in the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL) on December 4. In 2023, the forward terminated his contract with the Hawks and moved to Washington.