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What’s next after Rangers sign top pick Alberts Smits to entry-level contract
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- What’s next after Rangers sign top pick Alberts Smits to entry-level contract
Next stop training camp, where Alberts Smits hopes to land a spot on the Opening Night roster with the New York Rangers . This after the 18-year-old defenseman signed his three-year entry-level contract Wednesday.
Though Smits was non-committal about his plans for the 2026-27 season during prospects development camp earlier this month, it was widely expected he'd turn pro in North America this summer and try win a job on the Rangers blue line in the fall.
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The Rangers selected Smits with the No. 5 overall selection in this year's draft, bypassing Chase Reid, who many thought was the best defenseman in the draft class. Rangers head of amateur scouting John Lilley said after the draft that Smits was New York's pick all the way, as long as he was still available when they were on the clock.
"There were a lot of great options, obviously, picking at five. Alberts, to us, was the top player out of that grouping," Lilley told reporters . "Very excited to get him into our pipeline."
Smits immediately became the top prospect in the Rangers organization after they selected him. And speculation grew that he could land a job right away with the Rangers since Smits was the consensus most NHL-ready defenseman in the draft. And earlier this week, The Athletic listed him as the ninth-best NHL prospect under the age of 23 in their annual Top-100 rankings.
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That's because he played — and played well — against grown men in two European pro leagues last season, and when representing Latvia in the Milan-Cortina Olympics and 2026 IIHF World Championship. At 6-foot-3, 209 pounds, Smits has NHL size. Plus his mature two-way game and overall maturity on and off the ice increase his chances about quickly adapting to the NHL.
However, nothing will be handed to Smits, and he very well could start the season with Hartford of the American Hockey League. That'd be a solid next step for Smits, who played 38 games and recorded 13 points (six goals, seven assists) for Jukurit in the top pro league in Finland last season, before playing five games with EHC Munchen in Germany.
"Well, there's not too many kids his age drafted who have played in two different men's pro leagues, Olympics, World Championships. Certainly isn't getting in bigger stages than those events he participated in. We're excited where we got him," general manager Chris Drury told reporters two weeks ago. "But with that said, we're going to do right by him and the long-term health and well-being of him as a Ranger. This is not a sprint for him. We hope he's a rock solid defenseman for the Rangers for the next 15 years. We're not going to put him in positions or situations that he can't handle."
Alberts Smits will contend for spot on Rangers' Opening Night roster
Make no mistake, though, now that he's signed, the Rangers will give Smits every chance to prove he's ready to play in the best hockey league in the world.
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Though he projects one day to be a top-four defenseman and possibly the heir apparent to Vladislav Gavrikov on the left side of the top pairing, Smits heads to camp hoping to land a third-pair role. The Rangers signed third-pair righty Braden Schneider to a one-year, $5.5 million contract Monday, and have several options to consider to the left of him
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Along with Smits, there's Matthew Robertson , who played 72 games in his rookie season a year ago; Urho Vaakanainen , who has 221 games of NHL experience; rookie Drew Fortescue , who played three seasons at Boston College and held his own in nine games with the Rangers late last season; and William Trudeau , who was acquired from the Montreal Canadiens this summer though appears to be more of a depth option or AHL regular.
None of them have the upside of Smits. But training camp will be a big test to see if the teenager is the best option right now.
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"The tools are definitely there, and they have come together quickly over the last year," prospects expert Scott Wheeler wrote about Smits in The Athletic . "I think he has legitimate first-pairing upside."
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