Alberts Smits has already forced his way into the Rangers’ conversation for Opening Night.
The No. 5 pick from the NHL Draft Lottery night may not have landed in New York under ideal circumstances, but the Rangers used that selection on the Latvia defenseman, who came into the draft process with a reputation as the most pro-ready player in the 2026 class. That mattered then, especially with the Rangers’ defense looking thin. It still matters now, even after the team added Marcus Petterssson and Sean Durzi to stabilize the second pairing.
Those moves changed the shape of the blue line, but they did not erase Smits from the picture. He still has a path to the roster, potentially as a third-pairing defenseman next to Braden Schneider. Whether that happens will come down to head coach Mike Sullivan, who made it clear on Wednesday before training camp that Smits is in the mix.
"We're impressed with his game. I think the path that he's taken to get here... has been beneficial for him," said Sullivan, h/t Colin Stephenson of Newsday.
"He's played in men's leagues, and... He's in a man's body already, given his age."
That physical maturity is part of what made Smits such an appealing pick in the first place. At 6-foot-3 and 205 pounds, he brings size and a heavy shot, but his resume also includes time against strong competition overseas. He performed well in top leagues in Finland and Germany and also handled himself against NHL talent while playing for Latvia in the Winter Olympics.
Sullivan also signaled that the organization is thinking beyond just the first week of the season. Smits could be one of the first young players to get a real look, but the coach wants the timing to work for the player as much as for the roster.
"I think the most important thing is, and we have talked about this internally, is that in the big picture, the sooner that Smits becomes part of our roster the better," said Sullivan, h/t Mollie Walker of the New York Post. "But we also have to make sure that we do the right thing for him, both in the short term and in the long term...
We'll see where it goes... His play will tell us where we think he fits and what's best for him."
Smits got a taste of that evaluation over the weekend at rookie camp, where the Rangers played two exhibition games against the Philadelphia Flyers. He appeared in the first one and showed off the power in his shot, but he also had multiple turnovers in the loss. He did not play in Sunday’s finale.
When The Athletic’s Peter Baugh asked him what he needed to clean up, Smits pointed straight to the puck mistakes.
“Everybody over here, they can take care of the puck and make good decisions," Smits told Baugh.
So the door is open, but not wide open. Smits is not a lock for the season-opening game against the Boston Bruins, and he still has to beat out the other defensemen fighting for those final spots. Even so, Sullivan has already made one thing clear: Smits is in the running, and his preseason play will help decide how far that run goes.
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