The New York Rangers announced today that they have signed 2026 fifth overall pick Alberts Smits to a three year Entry Level Contract. The deal is for a base of 1.075M with the ability to earn another $3M in bonuses. The 6-3 209lb Latvian has continued to impress the Rangers front office, and it was widely expected that he would sign his ELC before training camp in September.

As a left hander, the 18 year old joins a crowded roster that already includes Vladislav Gavrikov, Marcus Petterson, Matthew Robertson and Urho Vaakanainen as well as Drew Fortescue, Jackson Dorrington, Marc Del Gaizo, Dennis Cholowski and William Trudeau. For those not keeping track, that’s now 10 left-handed defensemen under NHL contract.

WHERE IS EVERYONE GOING

On the face of things it would seem likely that Smits will start the season in Hartford. With the Rangers already overloaded with players who need to pass through waivers, the young Latvian would have to significantly outplay one of the projected starters to win a spot. In addition, Chris Drury is already looking at the possibility of losing players on waivers, so adding Smits to the line-up would only make matters worse.

Certainly there’s the possibility of injuries to delay the decision, but the more likely path would seemingly be to make some more trades. Is Drew Fortescue part of the future still? What about Jackson Dorrington who has now been pushed further down the depth chart. Perhaps even Matthew Robertson might be available if a young top six forward should come available before the season starts. One thing is clear, Drury has a lot of things to consider on both sides of the blueline.

HARTFORD IS NOT SO BAD

It is pretty rare these days that a defenseman comes into the league and makes an impact at 18 or 19 years of age. Last year 18 year old Matthew Schaefer did just that for the Islanders, setting some league and franchise records along the way. Could Smits follow a similar trajectory, albeit with less projected offense?

Playing in Hartford under new coach Jay Leach wouldn’t be so bad though. The Rangers have revamped the line-up there, turning over a majority of the roster as they attempt to rebuild their development system – again. Smits could potentially end up playing with other promising prospects like Cole Beaudoin, Nathan Aspinall and Liam Greentree up front, and blueliners Scott Morrow, Vincent Iorio and the aforementioned Fortescue. It’s also possible that Adam Sykora and Jaroslav Chmelar return to the minors to start the season as waiver exempt players.

That kind of line-up could provide the Wolf Pack with a much better set of players – at least on paper.

My expectation at this stage is this is exactly where he’ll end up, and while he spent parts of last year away from home in Finland and Germany, the transition to the US is much greater given the distance he’ll be away from his homeland. Allowing him to not only adjust to playing in North America, but also living here, will give the young man a bit of extra time to get his feet under him without the expectations of a Rangers team that feels the need to get back to the playoffs immediately.