Bold claim: Alberts Šmits is turning heads at the Olympic stage and could be a landmark name for Latvia’s hockey future.
MILAN — Four years ago in Beijing, a teenage prospect arrived on the Olympic stage, electrified the men’s ice hockey tournament, and gave a massive boost to his NHL draft stock. That performance helped the Montreal Canadiens decide to take Juraj Slafkovský No. 1 in the 2022 NHL Draft, proving to many that a big stage didn’t intimidate him and that he could thrive under pressure—traits Slafkovský has continued to display for Slovakia at these Olympics.
A parallel storyline could be unfolding for Latvia’s 6-foot-3, 205-pound defenseman Alberts Šmits, the lone draft-eligible player in this year’s Olympic tournament. Šmits’s run concluded in the qualifying round when Latvia fell 4-1 to Sweden, but the lanky, physical blue-liner with excellent hands and feet left a strong impression on teammates and observers alike.
Earlier in the tournament, after Latvia faced the United States in the prelims, Šmits spoke about the chance to mimic Slafkovský’s breakout and boost his draft resume with a standout performance against the world’s best. He had just suffered a defeat, yet he could still appreciate the broader benefits of Milan experience.
“Of course it’s a great opportunity, a great challenge for me that I’m glad and honored to take, to see myself and see what I need to improve to play against those types of players, the top players in the world,” he said on Feb. 12. “It’s a big challenge I have for me and for us as a team.”
That mindset—a competitive fire—stood in contrast to his post-elimination reflection five days later. After Latvia’s exit, Šmits looked past the draft narrative.
“That’s not why I came here,” he said Tuesday after the loss to Sweden. “I came here to help my team and do my best to help my country. I didn’t come here for the draft rankings.”
Whether he intended it or not, that focus on team success likely boosted how NHL teams will view him after a best-on-best Olympic showing. He played on his country’s top pairing, averaged 18:44 of ice time per game, and looked like he belonged on this level just weeks after his 18th birthday.
Veteran Latvia goalie Elvis Merzļikins wasn’t an NHL scout during the games, but he still offered high praise for the rising players on the roster. When asked about Šmits specifically, Merzļikins paused to reflect before shifting into scouting mode.
“I’m definitely, when I get back home I need to talk to Columbus, because that’s what I meant. Mostly, I was talking about him,” he said. “The forwards I really don’t care because they’re not really my job; my closest friends are my defensemen. And him, he played lights out. The kid is really calm, focused, makes decisions quick, physical. Blocking shots, he doesn’t really care about getting hurt or pain or anything. And mentally, he’s really mature as a kid as well.
“It’s exactly him I was talking about. I’m happy and proud of him, and I’m happy that we have this type of player coming up for the future and the next many years for our nation.”
What impressed his teammates most was Šmits’s composure against elite competition. He wasn’t awed or intimidated; he simply played.
“I’m here to show what I can do on the ice,” Šmits said after the U.S. game. “I’m here to compete and not to admire other players.”
His performance against the Americans was particularly notable when he lined up U.S. captain Auston Matthews and delivered a hard open-ice hit.
Merzļikins continued: Šmits has a swagger and a character that resonates. “He has a similar character as me. Maybe that’s why I like him, he really doesn’t give a s— who is in front of him, what is the name, it doesn’t matter. He is just going to go cross-check the guy, give it back if he has to, and obviously protect me. He has all good values. So again, I seriously have to go talk to Columbus.”
Šmits remains the lone draft-eligible player at Milan. NHL Draft experts Corey Pronman and Scott Wheeler both place him in the top 10 of their latest rankings—Pronman No. 8 and Wheeler No. 5. The last Latvian selected in the first round was Zemgus Girgensons (Buffalo, 2012 No. 14). With this Olympic showing, Šmits is widely expected to surpass Girgensons’s first-round milestone.
Girgensons praised Šmits’s maturity and poise for his age, noting that the 18-year-old’s ability to hold and protect the puck sets him apart from peers who rush plays. “Usually guys that age try to rush plays and get rid of it; he definitely has the poise with it.”
Latvia captain Kaspars Daugaviņš, who played 91 NHL games and was a 2006 third-round pick, hopes Šmits’s high draft position will lift the sport in Latvia. He explained that top-tier drafting creates belief among younger players, draws scouts’ attention, and helps Latvia’s hockey reputation grow in the international scene.
For now, Šmits is headed back to Jukurit in Finland, a country he moved to on his own at age 13 to pursue hockey. His future draft position isn’t his immediate concern; when asked whether Milan might be his final season in Finland, he said it’s too early to tell.
Merzļikins, however, sees clear potential. “I think he has a good chance to start playing in the NHL,” he said. “I’ve seen a lot. Obviously I had never seen him on the small ice, but now I think he easily can play.”
If you’re following this year’s draft arc, Šmits’s Olympic emergence adds a provocative thread: a young Latvian defender balancing mature decisiveness, physical play, and calm under pressure might be shaping the country’s next great pipeline to the NHL. Do you buy into the narrative that Olympic performances can definitively swing a prospect’s draft stock, or do you think this is just one data point among many? Share your thoughts and predictions in the comments.
