- Rangers signed defenseman Alberts Smits to a three-year entry-level contract
- The No. 5 pick is the highest-drafted Latvian in NHL history
- Read below for what comes next as Smits chases an Opening Night roster spot
Alberts Smits is officially a Blueshirt.
The Rangers signed the 18-year-old defenseman to a three-year, entry-level contract on Wednesday, the team announced. He landed in New York as the fifth pick of the 2026 NHL Draft last month, the highest a Latvian has ever been taken.
New York put it in writing:
Smits grew up in Valmiera, Latvia and made most of his name in Finland. When his name came off the board at No. 5, he passed every countryman who came before him.
The league marked the moment when he came off the board:
He spent last season with Jukurit of Finland’s Liiga, posting six goals and 13 points in 38 games as an 18-year-old against grown men. That was the second-most points by any Liiga skater under 18 all year.
NHL Central Scouting ranked him as the second-best European skater in the class heading into the draft. At 6-foot-3 and 209 pounds, he already has the frame teams want on the back end, and New York liked his two-way game enough to spend a top-five pick on it.
We flagged him as a name to watch a week ago, when the talk started that he could push for NHL minutes as soon as this season.
Training camp opens in September. Smits wants a spot on the Opening Night roster, and a signed three-year deal gives him the runway to go earn one.
