Will Rangers' top draft pick Alberts Smits jump to the NHL this year?

GREENBURGH – The book on Alberts Smits, who the Rangers took with the fifth overall pick in the NHL draft on Friday, is that of all the top-end defensemen available in the draft, he was the most ready to make the jump to the NHL right now.

Smits, spent last season playing in the professional leagues in Finland and Germany. The 18-year-old also played for his native Latvia at the World Junior Championships, the Olympics and senior men’s World Championships, as well.

But at the Rangers’ Prospect Development Camp on Monday at their Westchester County practice facility, Smits was coy when asked if he will be at training camp in the fall.

“We'll see how it goes,’’ he said.

Smits was one of the headliners among the 33 players at the camp, along with Drew Fortescue, who played nine games for the Rangers at the end of last season following the end of his season at Boston College, winger Liam Greentree, the player the Rangers acquired in the Artemi Panarin trade, and 2024 first-round pick E.J. Emery.

Eight of the nine players the Rangers selected in the weekend’s draft are attending the camp, with Russian defenseman Ivan Patrikhayev the only one not present.

Emery, looking quite at ease in his third prospect camp, skated in the first group Monday, along with Smits.

“He's a big, young kid that's going to be incredible,’’ Emery said of Smits. “He's going to be an awesome player, and I’m super excited to be here with him, and get to know him a little bit.’’

Smits, who is 6-3 and 205 pounds, was one of five elite defensemen who all were picked among the top nine selections. He played 38 games for Jukurit of Finland’s Liiga, scoring six goals and 13 points, and when his team knew it wouldn’t make the playoffs, it loaned him to Munich of the German league. There, he played five regular-season games (one assist) and 11 playoff games (2 goals, 4 assists).

Playing in the pro leagues against men much older than him gave him “a lot of experience,’’ Smits said. He said it taught him “how to handle situations when you go against much bigger and stronger guys, and also they're [better] than playing against the junior guys.’’

Smits, who speaks three languages, left home at 13 to play in Finland because he thought it would be better for his hockey development, he said. In his second year there, at age 14, he jumped from the U-16 division to U-18. The next year, he was playing U-20 before transferring to Jukurit for the 2024-25 season. There he started at U-18, moved up to U-20 and finished the year in the pro league.

“Finland's a great country to develop for young players, and it's also close to Latvia, so we came up, with my family, the idea to go there and try my luck there,’’ he said. “And it turned out great. So I'm happy about that decision.’’

Emery, meanwhile, had a stronger sophomore year at North Dakota after a freshman year in which he managed just one assist in 31 games. As a player who primarily plays on the penalty kill and matches up against opposing teams’ top forwards, he had three goals and 10 assists in 38 games as North Dakota made it to the NCAA Frozen Four.

“I think the biggest thing was just… slow the play down,’’ he said of his growth this season. “I don't have to rush anything. I use my skating to my [advantage], and just, really what I just realized, I can hold on to the puck a little bit longer.’’

The 20-year-old British Columbia native, a dual citizen who played in the World Juniors for the USA, said he added 10 pounds over the last year to his 6-4 frame, bulking up to 193.

“I can feel it with the skating… having that extra power, and especially defending against players, boxing out,’’ he said.

He’ll return to North Dakota for his junior year but dodged a question about what his timetable may be for signing a pro contract.

“Right now, I'm just focused on UND and winning a national championship there,’’ he said. “I’m gonna take it day by day, and when we get to that, we get to that.’’

Qualifying offers

The Rangers extended qualifying offers to restricted free agents Braden Schneider, Pavel Dorofeyev, Scott Morrow, Vincent Iorio and William Trudeau before Monday’s deadline.

The team did not extend offers to Hugo Ollas, Talyn Boyko, Brendan Brisson and Massimo Rizzo, making them all unrestricted free agents.

By Colin Stephenson

colin.stephenson@newsday.comColinSNewsday

Colin Stephenson covers the Rangers for Newsday. He has spent more than two decades covering the NHL and just about every sports team in the New York metropolitan area.