Recently acquired Washington wingers Jordan Kyrou and Alex Tuch have something in common with each other, and with several of their new Capitals teammates. The Caps often refer to the culture in their locker room as a brotherhood, but even before the recent acquisitions of Kyrou and Tuch, the Caps’ room has been teeming with players that have brothers playing the game professionally, a brother ’hood, if you will.
Kyrou’s younger brother Christian was a second-round draft choice of the Dallas Stars in 2022, and he is currently a right-handed defenseman in the Philadelphia organization. He is an RFA-to-be this summer, coming off his entry level contract.
Tuch’s younger brother Luke is a 24-year-old left wing in the Montreal organization. He will also be an RFA coming off his entry level deal this summer, with arbitration rights.
The late season recall of Ilya Protas – the younger brother of five-year NHL veteran Caps forward Aliaksei – from AHL Hershey, gave Washington eight players on their roster with brothers playing professionally somewhere in the world, and all eight of those players have brothers who have ascended to and played in the National Hockey League, as the younger Kyrou and Tuch brothers are seeking to do.
The Protases become the fourth set of brothers – and the first in nearly a quarter of a century – to suit up simultaneously with Washington. Now, the Caps roster – as constituted on this day in late June of 2026 – has 10 players with brothers playing professionally. In the wake of the rarity of the Protas brothers both playing for the Caps, we took some time to roam the room late in the season, asking the other brothers with brothers playing hockey if they’d ever considered or discussed playing on the same NHL team as one of their brothers.
Here are the responses:
Defenseman Cole Hutson – (brothers are Lane Hutson, defenseman Montreal Canadiens and Quinn Hutson, forward, AHL Bakersfield, has played for Edmonton Oilers)
“I think that would be really cool. I was talking to Little Pro before and just saying how lucky he is to play with his brother. I know I wish I had gotten a chance to play with Lane, but I’m just focusing on staying in this League right now and being able to hang with the big boys. In the future, hopefully he gets traded here. I never want to leave this team; the culture that has been built here is unbelievable. But yeah, it would be nice for him to eventually make the move here.”
Right wing Ryan Leonard – (brother is John Leonard, forward, currently AHL Grand Rapids, Detroit organization; has played for San Jose, Nashville, Arizona and Detroit)
“Sometimes. I told him last summer to try to sign here and see what happens, but that would be something you don’t really think of. I’m sure Aliaksei and Ilya had never thought about that before, and then obviously when [Ilya] gets drafted here, you know the chance is higher, but it’s never really set in stone until it actually happens.
“I’m super happy for those guys and their family; it’s pretty cool to see all of that. And for the rest of us [with hockey playing brothers], it’s kind of cool to share that experience with them, even though it’s not exactly the same thing.”
Goaltender Charlie Lindgren – (brother is Ryan Lindgren, defenseman, Seattle Kraken)
“We’ve definitely talked about it. It would be such a funny dynamic because obviously, we know each other so well. And seeing him interact with a group of guys and seeing myself interact with some different guys, it would be hilarious. And it would be a lot of fun, and our parents would love it, and all of that stuff.
“But I think about the other night with the Protases and how cool that was, for Aliaksei to play with his brother on the same line. That, just to me, it’s incredible. I couldn’t be more proud of those guys; what a moment that was. But yeah, one day it would be pretty cool to play with Ryan.”
Defenseman Rasmus Sandin – (brother Linus Sandin, currently Rogle BK Angelholm, Swedish Hockey League; played for Philadelphia in 2021-22)
“We were lucky enough to sign our first SHL contracts with the same team. We made our SHL debut together in the same game, which is probably one of the coolest moments in my career so far. He was a little more of a late bloomer than I was, so he is four years older. But we signed in the first division in the SHL in Sweden, we signed together and played our first game together, too. And we played the first five or six games together or something, which was amazing. It’s one of my highlights for sure in my career. I was always hoping for it to happen again, but it’s not that simple. But it’s awesome to have Ilya up and to see how special it is for the Protas family.”
Center Dylan Strome – (brothers are Ryan Strome, center, Calgary Flames and Matt Strome, center, AHL Hershey)
“It only happened at one point when me and Ryan were free agents at the same time. But it was a big time in his career and a big time in mine as well, trying to find a stable organization and be on a stable team and getting some stability into my life, so we didn’t really go too in-depth on it. But it’s definitely something that we’ve talked about, and hopefully someday it can happen somehow.
“It’s cool with Matt being [in the organization]; you get to come down a few times a year and get to come when we play against Ryan. And it’s really cool that we got to play in a preseason game, which is something I’ll never forget, earlier this year.”
Defenseman Trevor van Riemsdyk – (brother is James van Riemsdyk, forward, Detroit Red Wings)
“Yeah, it would make life on my parents a lot easier, rather than splitting time between Detroit and here this year and all the other places in the past. Obviously, I think that would be a thrill and it would be really cool to do that. You see Pro and his brother doing it now, and they probably have a couple of decades in front of them as teammates. But it would be special – especially for our parents, too – to see that.
“That was never the goal. When you’re on the ice at 6 am on a Sunday morning when you’re five and six years old, my dad is not thinking, ‘Oh, this is all just to get them to the NHL.’ I think was just so that on the way home, we could have that 20-minute car ride where we’re laughing and talking, and getting a Slurpee or a hot chocolate or whatever it may be.
“So, it’s amazing that it led to this, and it’s really special, but it was never the plan for my parents. I think they just wanted us to enjoy the game, and each step was worried about the next one, whether it was playing for our local high school team and hoping to make varsity and stuff like that. And it kind of kept snowballing and kept snowballing, and we’re here today. And we’re extremely fortunate.”
