The Rangers spent their retool trying to restock a prospect pool that badly needed fresh talent, and the No. 5 pick gave them a shot at a real centerpiece. With the top defensemen still on the board, New York went with Latvia’s Alberts Smits.
That choice came with plenty of buzz. Around the pre-draft process, Smits was widely viewed as the most pro-ready player in the class.
He already sits as the Rangers’ top prospect on multiple lists, and The Athletic placed him 16th overall in its rankings of prospects and players age 23-and-under. For a team looking for someone who could step in sooner rather than later, that kind of standing matters.
Still, one recent list left Smits out in the cold.
The Athletic’s Scott Wheeler, Corey Pronman, and Harman Dayal released their top 20 Calder Trophy candidates for the upcoming season, and Smits didn’t make the cut. His draft classmates Ivar Stenberg, who came in at No. 2, Gavin McKenna at No. 3, and Viggo Bjorck at No. 12, all landed spots.
That omission is hard to square with the case Smits has already built. He may not be locked into the opening night lineup - especially if head coach Mike Sullivan chooses Matthew Robertson on the third pair with Braden Schneider - but it still feels like a question of when, not if, Smits gets his chance this season.
And once he does, the résumé is there. Smits has already shown he can handle pro hockey after playing in the top leagues in Finland and Germany, and he also held his own against NHL talent while representing Latvia at the Winter Olympics.
If the Rangers are looking for a prospect who can make noise in the rookie race, Smits still looks like their best bet. He could start out in third-pair minutes, but there’s been talk of his role growing as the season unfolds, including possible work on the penalty kill or even the power play. With that kind of shot, the extra-man unit makes sense as a possible landing spot.
There was a time this offseason when Liam Greentree or Cole Beaudoin seemed like possible answers for a roster opening, especially with the Rangers trying to fill a middle-six hole. Greentree put up huge numbers for the Windsor Spitfires in the OHL, while Beaudoin impressed with the Barrie Colts. Both were among the top prospects the Rangers got back in trades involving Artemi Panarin and Vincent Trocheck.
Then Wednesday changed the picture. The Rangers announced a one-year contract for Seattle Kraken winger Eeli Tolvanen, and that move should put him in line for a wing spot on the second or third line when the season begins.
That leaves Smits as the Rangers’ most likely candidate to make a run at the Calder Trophy. New York clearly believes in him, and if he gets the opportunity they expect, he could wind up forcing the rest of the league to pay attention.
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Joonas Korpisalo arrived in the offseason to give New York a proven option behind Shesterkin, but Garands path is more complicated than a standard backup challenge. The Rangers have already committed to him with a two-year extension, and the way they handle the final roster spot will say plenty about how they value immediate insurance versus long-term development. [Read more 🡒]
Rangers Have Elite Stars But This Ranking Raises A Bigger Roster Debate
The Athletics preseason player tiers offered a familiar reminder of where the Rangers top end stands, with Igor Shesterkin and Adam Fox landing in the uppermost group below only the MVP class. Shesterkin drew the expected elite billing as one of the leagues premier goaltenders, while Foxs placement came with a more nuanced scouting read that still centered on his intelligence and style even as evaluators noted questions about his speed.
What makes the list more interesting for New York is the company those two keep further down the board. Mika Zibanejad and J.T. Miller were among the Rangers grouped into the Support tier, the kind of placement that underscores how much of the roster is built around excellent contributors rather than a long line of true drivers. For a team with championship expectations, that gap between star power and supporting cast is the part worth watching. [Read more 🡒]