The New York Rangers have locked up one of their top young pieces, signing defenseman Alberts Smits to a three-year entry-level contract.
Smits, 18, went fifth overall in the 2026 NHL Draft, and the Rangers are moving quickly to get him under contract after a season that put him on the radar well beyond his own age group. The Latvian blueliner was ranked by NHL Central Scouting as the second-best European skater heading into the draft.
A native of Valmiera, Latvia, Smits spent most of his development path in Finland, with a short stint in Germany mixed in as well. Last season, he logged the bulk of his work with Jukurit in Finland’s Liiga, where he put up six goals and 13 points in 38 games while finishing at minus-3. He also appeared in five games with EHC München in the DEL and added five more games with Jukurit’s U20 SM-sarja team.
Smits also made a strong impression on the international stage, where more eyes were on him than the average Liiga viewer might get. At the U20 IIHF World Junior Championships, he posted one goal and five points in five games for Team Latvia. Latvia didn’t get past the quarterfinals, but simply reaching the knockout round was a sign of how far the program has come.
He kept representing Latvia later on, too, suiting up at the 2026 Winter Olympics and the 2026 IIHF World Championships. Across those two events, Smits recorded six assists in 12 combined games, another reminder that he can hold his own against elite competition. At 6-foot-3 and 209 pounds, he already has the frame of a rugged two-way defenseman.
That upside is part of why PHR’s Gabriel Foley was so high on him in the 2026 mock draft, correctly projecting him to the Rangers. Foley called Smits, “ He’s a true rover: aggressive with and without the puck, confident driving it into the teeth of a defense, and a strong enough skater to recover when his gambles don’t land.
” He also added, “ [t]he puck skill and mobility at 6-foot-3 are rare for the position, and a patient Rangers group would be betting on one of the most dynamic offensive defenders in the class. “
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