Alberts Smits has already forced his way into the New York Rangers’ picture, but the bigger question now is what Mike Sullivan plans to do with him next.
The 18-year-old arrived with the kind of momentum that only a huge camp and preseason can create, winning an opening-night roster spot and immediately settling into an overhauled Rangers blue line. Through 12 games, he has shown enough to prove he belongs at this level. The growing pains are real, but so is the foundation.
Smits has lined up on the third pair with Braden Schneider and given the Rangers real minutes they can live with. He has not picked up his first NHL point yet, but he has five shots on goal, 11 hits and about 15 minutes of ice time a night. Those shifts have come in front of rookie goaltender Dylan Garand, not Igor Shesterkin, and the third pair’s ability to survive at 5-on-5 has helped steady a team that is off to a 7-4-1 start.
There’s plenty to like in the way Smits plays. His active stick, size and two-way mobility are the traits that make him such a special prospect.
He has been caught on a couple of mistimed pinches in the neutral zone, but that sort of thing is expected for an 18-year-old learning the North American game. The offense, as the article notes, should arrive once the pace starts to slow down for him.
The concern now is how Sullivan is handling his minutes. In the past two games, Smits’ workload has dropped from that early 15-minute range closer to 11, with Sullivan tightening things up when the game speed picks up. That’s where the problem starts to grow.
A player with Smits’ ceiling only learns so much by being eased through shifts. He has to see NHL speed, process it and clean up the mistakes that come with being a teenage defenseman.
But the Rangers’ left side is jammed. Vladislav Gavrikov is soaking up heavy top-pair minutes, Marcus Pettersson is locked in on the second pair, and there isn’t an obvious path to a top-four role right now.
So Sullivan is left with a choice. He can keep pushing Smits, let him carry more responsibility and live through the mistakes that come with development, or he can keep sheltering him in a reduced role and risk stunting what could become more.
The fifth overall pick of the 2026 NHL draft is already getting NHL games. The next step is making sure those games actually move him forward.
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