Ilya Protas Named to 2026 AHL All-Star Classic

January 15, 2026

The American Hockey League announced today that Hershey Bears rookie forward Ilya Protas has been selected to the 2026 AHL All-Star Classic presented by BMO, set to take place on Feb. 10-11 in Rockford, Illinois. Protas is Hershey's first rookie to be named to the league's mid-season event since goaltender Clay Stevenson received the honor during the 2024 event.

Protas, 19, is one of two players to have appeared in all 34 of Hershey's games this season, tallying a team-leading 14 goals and adding 13 assists to rank second on the team in scoring with 27 points. Protas' plus-minus of +10 and his five power-play goals also lead the club. Among AHL rookies, Protas' 27 points are fourth, and his 14 goals rank second. From Nov. 14-29, Protas collected eight goals as part of a seven-game goal-scoring streak, which is tied for the longest goal streak in the league this season.

The native of Vitebsk, Belarus was a third-round selection (75th overall) of Hershey's National Hockey League affiliate, the Washington Capitals, in the 2024 NHL Draft.

Joining Protas on the Atlantic Division roster are: Bridgeport's Cole McWard, Charlotte's Tobias Bjornfot and Jack Devine, Hartford's Gabe Perreault, Lehigh Valley's Denver Barkey, Providence's Patrick Brown ("C"), Frederic Brunet, Michael DiPietro, Springfield's Matt Luff, as well as Wilkes-Barre/Scranton's Tristan Broz and Sergei Murashov.

The 2026 AHL All-Star Classic presented by BMO includes the AHL All-Star Skills Competition on Tuesday, February 10, followed by the AHL Hall of Fame Induction and Awards Ceremony on Wednesday, February 11 and the 2026 AHL All-Star Challenge that evening. The Skills Competition pits the All-Stars from the two Eastern Conference divisions against those from the two Western Conference divisions in seven skills events. The All-Star Challenge is a round-robin, 3-on-3 tournament among the four divisions to determine the All-Star champions. For ticket information, fans can visit icehogs.com/asc26.