"He’s not a kid; he’s a man," Latvia's coach said of the draft-eligible prospect, who had five points in five games at the world junior championship.
Alberts Smits' hair was still damp with sweat following a 6-3 loss to Sweden in the quarterfinal at the world junior championship on Friday, but the Latvian defenseman was already looking for his next challenge.
This past week, the draft-eligible prospect showed that he can compete against the best under-20 players in the world. Next month, he's hoping to show what he can do against the best-of-the-best at the Olympics.
"Of course, this was a new experience for me. But the Olympics is a whole different level than this," said Smits. "This is more like a junior hockey and that will probably be a level that I haven’t played before. It’s going to be a new challenge for me. From now on, I have to get ready for it."
Latvia hasn't formally announced whether Smits will be on the team that competes in Milan. But Latvia isn't a large country and with just four skaters and two goalies currently playing in the NHL, there's a good chance Smits, who has spent this season in Finland's top pro league, will be selected.
If so, the 6-foot-3 and 205-pound Smits probably won't look out of place.
"He’s a man," said Latvia under-20 coach Artis Abols. "He’s not a kid. He’s a man."
It is Smits' size and strength, combined with his booming shot, which has him pegged as a potential top-10 pick heading into the 2026 NHL Draft. That would make him the highest-ever pick from Latvia since current Tampa Bay Lightning winger Zemgus Girgensons was selected 14th overall in 2012 by the Buffalo Sabres.
"There may not be a player who has risen boards quite as quickly to start the season as Latvian defender Alberts Smits," said The Hockey News' draft expert, Tony Ferrari, who had Smits' as the eighth-best prospect in his latest draft rankings. "There is so much potential in his game. If he can get a bit stronger and a bit more collected in his own end, Smits could end up being one of the best players to come out of this draft class fairly easily."
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Based on how he played at the world juniors, he could end up going even higher.
Smits had a goal and five points in five games for Latvia. In a 2-1 overtime loss to Canada in the round robin, Smits logged 24:37 in ice time. In the quarterfinal against Sweden, he practically never left the ice, taking a game-high 27 shifts.
"Well, if you compare us to other countries, we are a smaller country," said Smits. "We have the least under-20 players in the world. We did pretty great to make it to the quarterfinals and actually had some good opportunities today against Sweden. We did alright. We did our job in the elite."
When asked to evaluate his performance, Smits was humble in his assessment.
"I was just trying to do the job that I think the coach asked me to do," said Smits, who was named one of the Latvia's top-3 players in the tournament. "It turned out alright. I’m going to let the fans and the people that watch judge me. I’m not going to judge myself."
If Smits makes the Olympic team, there will be more opportunities for him to impress scouts. Latvia's first game at the Olympics is against Team USA, which could provide Smits a chance to defend against the likes of Auston Matthews, Matthew Tkachuk and some of the best players in the world.
"You know, a Latvian journalist asked me before the tournament, 'What will be more important for him, to come to the world juniors or go to Olympics?' " said Arbols. "I told them like, world juniors is important for how high they will take him, because everyone will compare him to the same age of players.
"But if he’ll go to the Olympics, then they’ll see how close he is to the NHL, because he’ll play against real NHL players, against the men."
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