Hockey Terminal
Be a GM

← All players

Photo of Alberts Smits

Alberts Smits

#12 · Defence · New York Rangers

Born Dec 2, 2007 in Valmiera, LVA (age 18) · 6'3", 208 lb · Shoots left · Drafted 5th overall in 2026 by NYR (round 1)

Compare with a similar player

The defencemen closest to him in points in 2026-27. Pick one to see the two side by side, or choose someone else.

Braden Schneider NYR · 0 P in 5 GP Cam York PHI · 0 P in 5 GP Ian Cole CHI · 0 P in 5 GP Jake McCabe TOR · 0 P in 5 GP Jamie Drysdale PHI · 0 P in 5 GP

Career

Regular season games only. Pick a season to see its game log below. Cap hit is what he counted against the salary cap that season, where it is known.

Season Team GP G A P +/- PIM Shots Hits P/GP Cap hit
2026-27 NYR 5 0 0 0 2 4 1 5 0.00 $1.075M
1 season Career 5 0 0 0 2 4 1 5 0.00

2026-27 season totals

GP G A P +/- PIM Shots Hits P/GP Shooting % Avg TOI
5 0 0 0 2 4 1 5 0.00 0.0 14:50

Contract

$1.075MCap hitends in 2029
$3.366MCap dollars per goal above replacement0.3 goals above replacement, projected

His cap hit for the whole season, set against what he did in the regular season. Lower is better value. In a season still being played the cost per point starts high and falls as the games add up. The season is still being played, so each rating is projected over the whole season: the games played so far, plus the games left at the rate of the last three seasons and this one.

The contract

Signed by the New York Rangers on Jul 15, 2026, as an entry-level contract: 3 years and $3.225M, beginning in 2026-27. It runs through 2028-29, with 2 seasons left after this one.

Season Cap hit
2026-27 $1.075M
2027-28 $1.075M
2028-29 $1.075M

Each season left on the contract. Only its cap hit and its end are known: how the pay is split by season, and any signing bonus, are not.

Contracts he has signed

Signed Signed by Kind Seasons Years In all Cap hit
Jul 15, 2026 New York Rangers Entry-level 2026-27 to 2028-29 3 $3.225M $1.075M

Every contract on record for him, newest first, with the team that signed him to it and the day it was signed. The one covering 2026-27 is marked. An extension is signed while the contract before it is still running, often a year ahead. A row with no team or date is a contract known only by its cap hit, most often one signed since October 2024.

2026-27 analytics

Rating, projected over the full season

2026-27 is still being played, so these are a projection of his whole season, not a count so far: what he has done in 5 games (+0.2 goals above replacement), plus the 44 more he is taken to play, going by how much of his team's games he has played before, at a rate set by his last three seasons and this one. The more he plays, the more this season counts, and by the last game it is simply his season.

+0.3Goals above replacementsix goals are worth about one win
+0.1Wins above replacementgoals above replacement divided by six
-0.2Goals above averagethe five parts below added up
Even-strength offence-0.1Even-strength defence+0.3Power play0.0Penalty kill0.0Penalties-0.3

The goals he added to his team's goal difference, compared with a spare-part player given the same ice time. Each part is measured against the league, so zero is an average skater. A full season is about two-thirds the player and one-third chance. His projection rests on fewer than 20 games, counting the last three seasons, too few to be ranked.

On the ice

What happened at five-on-five while he was on the ice. What these numbers mean

44.0Corsi for %59 attempts for, 75 against
-4.7CF% relative to teamagainst the team without him
55.2Expected goals for %3.7 expected for, 3.0 against
+7.6xGF% relative to teamagainst the team without him
44.9Fenwick for %unblocked attempts
66.7Goals for %4 for, 2 against
108.1PDO13.8% shooting + 94.3% saves
7Attempts takenhis own shot attempts

These are left plain: he has not been on the ice enough to be ranked. That takes at least 200 shot attempts with him out there, about six or seven games, and a quarter of what the busiest skater has. Over a game or two these numbers are mostly chance.

Who he played with

Defence pairGPTimeCF%xGF%Goals
Braden Schneider · Alberts Smits552:4140.448.13-1
Adam Fox · Alberts Smits410:4661.176.11-0
Marcus Pettersson · Alberts Smits43:3760.0100.00-0
Vladislav Gavrikov · Alberts Smits52:470.00.00-1

The pairs he spent the most time in at five-on-five, with the team's share of the shot attempts and expected goals, and the goals for and against, while they were out. The two shares are coloured as above, against the league's pairs that played a fair amount together. Hover over one for its percentile.

Chances and finishing

Expected goals adds up how likely each of his shots was to go in, judged by where it came from, what kind of shot it was and whether it was a rebound. All situations, leaving out shots at an empty net.

0Goalsnot counting empty-netters
0.2Expected goalsfrom 4 unblocked attempts
-0.2Goals above expectedgoals minus expected goals
Chances created 0.17 expected goals per 60 minutes1st
Shot quality 5.2% chance per attempt1st
Finishing -0.2 goals above expected1stOne season of finishing is mostly luck.

Each bar shows the share of defencemen he is ahead of, among the 0 who played 300 minutes or more this season.

00.20.40.60.81Expected 0.2Goals 0

His goals and his expected goals as the season went on. When the goals line pulls away above, he is scoring more than his chances were worth; below, less.

Where he shot from

Every attempt he took this season, in all situations, attacking the net on the right. There is a dot for each attempt, bigger for a better chance. "Show as heat map" shades the ice by where the attempts came from. Click a goal for its details.

Game log

Date Opponent Result G A P +/- PIM Shots Hits TOI
Oct 6, 2026 vs NYI W 5-2 0 0 0 1 2 0 0 15:27
Oct 4, 2026 vs UTA W 4-2 0 0 0 -1 0 1 0 16:12
Oct 2, 2026 @ DET W 2-0 0 0 0 0 2 0 1 11:26
Oct 1, 2026 vs TBL W 5-1 0 0 0 3 0 0 2 14:09
Sep 29, 2026 @ BOS L 0-3 0 0 0 -1 0 0 2 16:54