NY Rangers select Albert Smits With Fifth Overall Pick in NHL Draft

Rangers select defenseman Alberts Smits with No. 5 pick in 2026 NHL Draft

The Rangers got their guy. With the No. 5 selection in the NHL draft, the Blueshirts drafted Alberts Smits, a defenseman from Latvia.

NY Rangers select Albert Smits With Fifth Overall Pick in NHL Draft

The New York Rangers have taken Alberts Smits with the fifth overall pick.

Rangers see No. 5 overall pick Alberts Smits as 2‑way force on blue line

The New York Rangers used the No. 5 pick in the 2026 NHL Draft on Alberts Smits, a defenseman from Latvia who played professionally in Finland and Germany this past season. Smits also wore his country’s colors at the Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics, the IIHF World Championship, and 2026 World Junior Championship. One thing that had to attract Rangers’ general manager Chris Drury is that Smits more than held his own while playing against men in 202…

New York Rangers select Alberts Šmits No. 5 overall in 2026 NHL Draft - Daily Faceoff

Score a big one for Latvia. The New York Rangers selected defenseman Alberts Šmits, 18, with the xx overall pick Friday night at KeyBank Center in Buffalo. Šmits becomes just the second Latvian player to be selected in Round 1 and the first since Zemgus Girgensons went 14th overall to the Sabres in 2012, and Šmits now surpasses Girgensons as the highest-selected Latvian player in NHL history. Šmits, a lefthanded shooter, brings an NHL-ready buil…

Rangers add Alberts Smits with No. 5 pick

Follow the 2026 NHL Draft with theScore's live tracker to see all picks as they happen.The New York Rangers drafted defenseman Alberts Smits with the fift…

Rangers take defenceman Alberts Smits fifth overall at NHL Draft