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

With the fifth overall pick, the New York Rangers have selected Alberts Smits.

Jun 27, 2025; Los Angeles, California, USA; The video board shows the 20th overall pick for the Columbus Blue Jackets is about to be announced in the first round of the 2025 NHL Draft at Peacock Theater. / Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

With the NHL Draft officially here, the New York Rangers have made their selection at fifth overall. 

Following a terrible campaign, the Rangers knew that they were going to be drafting high in the NHL Draft and that ended up being the case. New York landed with the fifth overall pick in the NHL Lottery and while they had the third-worst record in the league, they were hoping to be a bit higher than they ended up. 

The Rangers are a team that is in the middle of a retool and after two straight years of missing the playoffs, the team needs to improve. New York has a need to improve their prospect pool and having the fifth overall pick should provide them with that opportunity. 

Due to the team having the worst record in the Eastern Conference, there were obviously a lot of holes for the group. Fortunately, they were able to address one of those needs.

Rangers Select Alberts Smits

Nov 16, 2025; New York, New York, USA; General view of a flag being waved by New York Rangers staff during the second period against the Detroit Red Wings at Madison Square Garden. / John Jones-Imagn Images

With the Rangers trading away their 26th pick, the fifth pick could be their only one in the first round. New York being able to land Smits gives them a defenseman who could be ready to help right off the bat. 

Smits is a physical player who fits the mindset of the franchise well, and his ability to play in the league right away could have been the difference-maker in the Rangers’ decision. 

With Daxon Rudolph being taken with the fourth overall pick, Chase Reid was still on the board. For much of the draft process, he was expected to be the first defenseman taken. However, with the Buffalo Sabres making a surprise pick, it didn’t change New York’s mind on Smits. 

The team was clearly high on him for quite a bit, and with a desire to be better right away and the addition of Pavel Dorofeyev, they are clearly retooling and not rebuilding. Smits might not have the highest ceiling of some of the players in the draft, but he is a very good talent who will help right away. 

With New York trading the 26th pick, it appears as of now he will be the lone selection in the first round. If that ends up being the case, the Rangers will be getting a good left-handed defenseman to fill a need for the organization. Overall, this was a deep class defensively and the Rangers should be pleased with thier selection.