Ranking the Top 20 New York Rangers Prospects Ahead of the 2026-27 Season

General Manager Chris Drury may insist that the Rangers aren't in a rebuild, and the team's splashy offseason reinforces that they are gunning for contention as soon as possible.

That does not mean the prospect pool is an afterthought. In fact, the state of the youth will be integral to righting the ship in New York. To some extent, that is about injecting impact players into the lineup. They surely hope they found a solution in fifth-overall pick Alberts Šmits. Drury also targeted pro-ready players in trades, including Cole Beaudoin and Liam Greentree.

It's also about giving yourself ammunition in the trade market. A successful prospect pool will not be able to fit all players into the NHL lineup. Some inevitably will have to become trade bait. Among the reasons the Rangers have failed to add impact NHLers is that they have lacked the talent other teams are seeking.

The Rangers still have a lot of work to do, and the prospect pool grades out as average by NHL standards. That is, however, a meaningful improvement from where the depth chart sat in previous seasons. In particular, the team's prospect depth is great. I see at least 20 prospects with a reasonable chance of becoming NHLers.

Let's take a look at the Rangers' top-20 NHL prospects.

In my view, Gonchar deserves more attention than he has received.

One reason he's an interesting prospect is that he is an unorthodox player who doesn't fit the low-hanging fruit the Rangers have been drafting for in recent years.

The nephew of former NHL superstar Sergei, Gonchar is a pure offensive defenseman. He isn't a great skater but still finds ways to pivot out of pressure along the blue line. He relies heavily on misdirection to create space to attack. He loves to move lower in the zone and is a smooth puck-mover, even when his body is contorted in various ways. His shot itself is lethal — hard and often shelf — but he also freezes defenses and goaltenders with fakes. The "will he, won't he" of it all makes other teams nervous.

Fifteen goals in the OHL last season are encouraging, and although 51 total points in 65 games is less than stellar, the Sudbury Wolves were a very low-scoring team overall; not a single forward was above a point per game.

Offense aside, it's pretty ugly. He's below-average speed-wise; he's well under the weight he'll need to play at in professional hockey, and his physical game is non-existent. He turns 20 in late October, so he doesn't have much developmental runway left. Still, his offensive toolbox is sophisticated and not worth giving up on yet.

The Rangers acquired Battaglia as a face-saving measure for their Brennan Othmann failure. At the time of acquisition, he was a credible NHL prospect but with a lot of warts. To his credit, Battaglia's play improved post-acquisition, and he really turned on the jets in the OHL playoffs: five goals and 13 assists in eight games.

Battaglia, a former second-round pick, is a strong winger who often gets his way in board battles and can brute-force his way to the net. He also has professional-caliber hands and a keen hockey sense. He is somewhat dynamic carrying the puck through the neutral zone and can make some nice passing combinations with teammates when holding the puck low in the zone.

Strength, hands, and hockey sense are strong building blocks for an NHL bottom-six winger.

The Achilles' heel is his skating. There's no way around it. He skates like there is lead in his boots. The straight-line speed is okay, but he is slow at the jump. The Rangers' skills team will have to help him gain a lot more power in his stride. Otherwise, he'll be destined for a career in the AHL.

If one were to design the type of player the Rangers want to target in the mid-to-late rounds of the NHL Draft, Charlie Morrison would come close.

The QMJHL defenseman is 6'3" and a well-above-average skater. His straight-line speed is strong, and his four-way mobility is polished for his age and projection. That ability to move sets the stage for his aggressive playing style. He loves to line up puck carriers and then pounce with a crushing hit. He jumps into gaps to disrupt a rush or pick off a lateral pass. Morrison is hungry to disrupt, and he has the physical tools to make it happen. Stylistically, he fits where the Rangers are trying to go with their defensemen.

His game is a double-edged sword at the moment. When his aggressive decisions work, it's great. Too often, the untamed style can backfire. This is not unusual for an 18-year-old and the Rangers will happily take their chance on an ambitious player. It beats the alternative of someone afraid to make mistakes. It will be on the development staff to help him pick his moments better.

Morrison is sloppy at handling the puck. This will never be his strength, though he will need to make gains to meet the minimum standard for an NHL defenseman. The tools were enough to justify his third-round slotting this past June and he projects as a physical shutdown third-pairing defenseman in the NHL.

When the Rangers drafted Lamb in 2021, he was a raw high school talent who everyone knew would need to take the scenic route to the NHL. He signed with the Rangers in the Spring after a four-year career at the University of Minnesota. Lamb appeared to be cooking his sophomore season, posting 27 points in 39 games while playing third-line minutes. He seemed poised for a big upperclassman bump. It never came. He totaled 26 points in 39 games as a junior and 30 in 35 as a senior while leading all Gophers forwards in ice time (per InStat).

To be fair, the Gophers were undergoing a transition period and were a very low-scoring team. I thought it was a 50/50 shot that the Rangers would give Lamb an entry-level contract. He did and joined the Hartford Wolf Pack, where he removed any doubt about that decision: he played well, scoring four goals and adding five assists in 15 games for a struggling Wolf Pack team.

Lamb has matured a lot as a player. He is an astute forechecker who cuts off passing lanes in the layered way the Rangers' systems call for. He has good habits on the ice and heightened instincts with the puck on his stick. He's going to be a good pro for the Wolf Pack, and that shouldn't be taken for granted. The AHL team has been in disarray, and part of righting the ship is having young contributors who don't count towards the veteran max.

Beyond that, I am skeptical. He lacks any standout traits, whether physical (skating, size) or in terms of vision and puck skills. If he adds more dynamic qualities, I can see him turning into a Jonny Brodzinski-type as a utility 13th forward.

Barnhill is one of many in the Rangers' system who fit a theme: He's big, he's fast, and he's a shutdown defenseman.

The 6'6" took a big leap to NCAA hockey last season, playing third-pairing minutes for a contender in Michigan State. The box scores won't impress anyone: No goals, six assists, and four assists in 37 games. That's not a good way to assess Barnhill.

The Arizona native is 6'6" and a powerful skater. That's already a good starting point for any defense prospect. Despite how raw he is overall, it's no surprise he held his own in the NCAA because he is physically built for it. He is powerful in board battles. He can cover a lot of ice but also has good footwork so as to not get beat in small-ice defensive moments. He's physical around the front of the net but also defends with aplomb, holding measured gaps and angling puck carriers to the perimeter.

There is little offense to his game (as the numbers reflect), but he is competent at retrieving pucks and finding simple passes from the defensive zone. He held his own in third-pairing minutes, averaging a little over 14 minutes per game. Michigan State's top-three defensemen from last season have moved on to pro hockey, and Barnhill should see a massive bump in ice time as a sophomore. He's a breakout candidate for 2026-27.

In 2025-2026, Nathan Aspinall went from an interesting late-round pick to a bona fide NHL prospect. He more than doubled his previous OHL production, scoring 33 goals and adding 61 assists in 65 games. Then he absolutely dominated in the playoffs, scoring 10 goals and adding 7 assists in 8 games.

The impetus for the Rangers originally drafting him in round five is his 6'7" frame. He doesn't play an overly vicious game, but he does lean into his size. He uses his reach to protect pucks and disrupt defenders holding the puck at the point. He is very hard to move.

The pleasant surprise has been his offensive acumen. When the Rangers drafted him, he had already shown solid hands around the net. He's really expanded that part of his game and you see him combining traits to into effective sequences. For instance, he'll use his size to create separation from a defender while holding the puck up upon a zone entry, then make a deft pass to the weak side as a defenseman slides low. He has no problems stickhandling close to his body. And he has an absolute rocket of a shot.

The trick will be transitioning him to play a different style of game in professional hockey. He's not going to play power-play minutes in the NHL. He has defensive awareness, and now the coaching staff in Hartford needs to help him hone in on a role as a checking forward. The tools are there, and he has a very real chance of becoming a unique fourth-line winger.

After a surprising first pro season in which he led the 2024-25 Hartford Wolf Pack in goals (20), Roobroeck's sophomore season was more muted, scoring 11 goals and 15 assists in 72 games.

It's not what you want to see, but there are mitigating circumstances. Overall, the Wolf Pack were an extremely low-scoring team. More specifically, Roobroeck's most common linemate, Anton Blidh, was a black hole offensively.

Roobroeck is a toolsy 6'7" center who is stylistically a perfect match for his theoretical fourth-line upside. He doesn't cheat the game. He drops deep in the defensive zone to offer outlets on breakouts or to help create numbers advantages in puck scrums. He sticks tight to his checks. He's always supporting the defensive zone of the puck during neutral zone scrums. He uses his reach effectively in the defensive zone to cut off shooting lanes or pressure the puck at the point without overpursuing.

Offensively, Roobroeck has some calm in his game even if he lacks soft skills. His wrist shot is great, and he'll roof pucks past goaltenders from distance. You'd like to see him become meaner around the net, and he needs to add some more explosion to his first step. Roobroeck will also need to improve his faceoff skills on the left side of the ice to carve that out as a specialty.

The baseline pro abilities are all there. Now it's about fine-tuning. If he can reduce some of those deficits, then he has a chance to establish a long NHL career as a fourth-line center. Look for him to get his first NHL opportunity next season.

The New York native was a steady presence in his three years patrolling the Boston College blue line. I thought he played some of his best hockey for gold medal-winning Team USA at the 2025 World Junior Championships. For his junior 2025-2026 season, I got to see him in action a number of times (including once in person), and his development was once again notable but measured: some added strength and more command of the puck in the offensive zone.

Fortescue knows his strengths, and he sticks to them. He gaps up nicely against the rush and drives puck carriers wide with his stick as an anchor. He does a solid job retrieving dump-ins and finding short, simple outlets. He has average four-way mobility, and I like that he's added some oomph to his protecting the top of the crease when pucks are high in the zone.

He held his own in nine NHL games last season, but it would have been scrutinized more if the games mattered. He will probably start the 2026-2027 season in the AHL. All-in-all, I think Fortescue a perfectly fine prospect but I don't see any standout traits that are commensurate with the particularly high value the Rangers (and some other NHL teams) place on him as a prospect. The baseline is good enough for his path to a career as a third-pairing shutdown defenseman to be evident, though I don't think it's guaranteed.

Vladislav Gavrikov and Marcus Pettersson are locked in on the left side, and Matthew Robertson has better physical attributes and is already more proven. Of course, room will have to be made for Alberts Šmits soon enough, as is. I have to wonder if his eventual utility to the Rangers is as a critical trade chip to add an impact forward within the next two seasons.

I maintain that Scott Morrow was a reasonable addition to the K'Andre Miller trade. Sometimes things just don't work out.

He was bad for the Rangers in 2025-26. The lineup was screaming for an offensive defenseman to make an impact, especially when Adam Fox was injured. Six assists in 29 games won't cut it. While some of his puck movement from the defensive end was helpful, he also struggled with the speed of the pressure and gave up some rough turnovers.

Defensively, it was ugly. Even in sheltered minutes, he got piled on.

The real shocker to me, however, was how pedestrian he looked in the AHL. His 19 points in 39 games were a step back, and he did not control the pace like he had the previous season as an AHL All-Star.

There are mitigating circumstances, sure. It was a tough environment for a young player to jump into. The Rangers, on the whole, clearly need to rethink their organizational philosophies and procedures. At this point, it probably doesn't matter.

This is the second NHL team with whom he has struggled to establish himself. He's boxed out of a regular lineup spot, and the addition of Sean Durzi to the right side makes even the idea of Morrow as a sheltered offensive defenseman redundant.

If he is a Ranger next season, it will be because he radically redefined his game and proved it well enough in training camp to earn a spot as a seventh or eighth defenseman. If he doesn't make the opening-night lineup, he'll have to go through waivers. His Rangers' career is on life support.

For me, Eriksen is the most underappreciated prospect in the Rangers' pool.

The Norwegian center blends a high hockey IQ with increasingly developed physical tools. He is deceptive with the puck. He scans his options before skating onto pucks and plans proactively rather than reacting. He is a big driver of offense because he is unpredictable while in motion.

His teammates at the junior level would send him the puck as the default, almost like a point guard in basketball. The production proves why: 19 goals and 25 assists in 25 J20 games is comical. He got a sniff of pro hockey in the Allsvenskan (Swedish second tier) last season and played respectable defensive hockey while showing sporadic flashes of offense.

In the lead-up to the 2026-2027 Swedish Hockey League campaign, Eriksen has gotten some more reps in the J20 league. He appears to have grown physically. His skating is now more explosive, and his shot is harder. Add that to his already existing agility and ability to dissect within the offensive zone, and the Rangers have a legitimate center prospect marinating.

He's ready for the SHL, and it shouldn't be forgotten that he only just turned 19 on Sept. 13. I think Eriksen is a bona fide B-tier prospect with a legitimate chance to become a middle-six center. While all teams believe in their prospects, I was told the Rangers were particularly thrilled that Eriksen was available in round four in 2025 and, a season later, he's outpacing that slotting.

Chmelař is an interesting prospect because his statistical profile does not suggest he is worth pondering. A sophomore NCAA season with 15 points in 26 games. Eight goals and 25 total points in 46 AHL games last season. That is not what an NHLer typically looks like.

The tape doesn't lie, though. His NHL call-up may have been opportunistic, but he took advantage of that chance. Four goals in 28 games while averaging only 9:09 of ice time. The Rangers controlled possession during his shifts (a 53.7 expected goals percentage). It was a strong cameo appearance, even if the games weren't meaningful for the standings.

Chmelař is 6'4,", and his strength is hard to miss. He's a bulldozer below the faceoff dots. He protects the puck, creates a lot of traffic in front of the net, and deposits junk from rebounds and broken plays into the net.

The biggest difference for Chmelař at age 21, compared to his teens, is he is now a really powerful skater. His straight-line burst ranked among the best in the NHL last season, and we saw his success in scoring from transition plays in the neutral zone.

His game has limits, but he plays within the bounds of his strengths. He should be in the opening-night lineup unless he really struggles in training camp, and I think he's headed toward a full-time job on the Rangers' fourth line for the next few seasons.

Sŷkora's production in the AHL the past three seasons would be all but disqualifying for a 5'10" winger. Last season was his "best" at 12 goals and 17 assists in 62 games, or under .5 points per game. While I will admit to growing increasingly skeptical of his NHL prospects in light of plateauing production at 21 years old, the "under the hood" math offered some hope; Sŷkora has consistently been one of Hartford's best at tilting the ice away from the defensive side and towards offensive possessions.

It's funny that his offensive explosion actually came during his first NHL stint. Three goals and an assist in nine games while playing bottom-six minutes. Rangers fans will remember that his offense mostly comes from an infinite turbo button. He's fast, he's a hard worker, and he's aggressive pursuing pucks. Add in that he is vocal and passionate, and you have the makings of a true heart-and-soul player injected into a team that needs it.

A stint in end-of-season action is one thing. Can Sŷkora sustain it over a full season when there is more pressure and the coaching staff is honed in on tactical minutiae? The speed and energy are great, but his offensive skillset remains very vanilla beyond banging home a few goals around the net.

I'm not too worried about his being undersized, but he'll have to become a strong defensive forward — potentially a penalty killer — to stick. He's going to have to fight for a spot in training camp and, if he makes it, fight to hold it. If he can play a responsible game, then he'll be a fan favorite on a fourth line with enough versatility to move higher up the lineup when necessary.

Chrenko is a center who played a prominent role for Slovak league champions HK Nitra in 2025-26 and also shone at the World Junior Championships with eight points in five games. That production alone suggests a player who belongs in the 30th-60th pick range of the NHL draft.

The diminutive forward is one I'd describe as quick rather than fast. Good acceleration and an ability to stop and then get moving without much wasted motion. He has decent speed when carrying wide against defenders. His most dependable trait is his ability to sidestep pressure. You won't see him churn and burn over long distances, though. At least, not in a way that separates him from the pack.

Chrenko has a quality wrist shot. It's quick off his stick. He is good at receiving passes in his wheelhouse. The efficiency in his shooting motion also creates some surprising range in how far out he can score. There is equal parts playmaking ability.

The big questions are the physical aspects and his defensive play. He's 5'11", but he plays even smaller. He's not strong enough to hold his own in battles, and although his agility allows him to skirt around pressure on open ice, he hasn't yet figured out how to avoid getting pinned along the walls. He'll also need to bulk up (he will) and add some resilience when defenders are draped around him.

Defensively, Chrenko puts in effort and has a disruptive stick when pressuring pucks, but he often loses his coverages while switching his visuals between following his check and tracking the puck's movement.

Can he make the NHL and, if so, will he stick at center? There is legitimate doubt for both questions. The Rangers have plenty of high floor, low-upside forwards in the organization so Chrenko, despite reasonable skepticism, is a breath of fresh air. If he makes it, he will be an impact top-nine scoring forward. You can't ask for much more than that at 81st overall.

Garand is 6'1 ", which would traditionally be considered on the smaller side for an NHL goaltender, but that's in the sweet spot for former Rangers goaltending coach Benoit Allaire.

He is mobile in the crease and polished in his movements. He doesn't have a ton of power in his pushes off the post or across the crease, but he compensates well with his mechanics and depth. He anticipates movements to the weak side and consistently gets across in time. Garand has bought into Allaire's insistence on compensating for lack of size by staying on his edges to maximize top-of-net coverage while maintaining mobility. When all else fails, he has innate compete to make desperation saves.

Garand's AHL numbers (.896 save percentage last season) don't do him justice. The Wolf Pack were absolutely atrocious. He was piled on. That NHL veteran, Spencer Martin, posted a .873 save percentage on the same team, which offers perspective on just how well Garand played.

And he's mentally tuned. Rangers fans saw this in his brief NHL spell last season. He was undaunted by the moment behind a less-than-stellar Rangers defense and was absolute nails against the Winnipeg Jets in a 35-save NHL debut.

I don't understand what the Rangers' plan is. While it's understandable that they want insurance at the backup position, the investment in Jonas Korpisalo feels like overkill. Garand has done everything he needs to justify a chance as an NHL backup. He is waiver-eligible this season, and I imagine there's a good chance another team will claim him if they decide to go with Korpisalo. That would be a waste of a good goaltending prospect.

The last pick of the second round this past summer, Ben MacBeath represents good value at 64th overall. One Eastern Conference scout I spoke with had him ranked 45th on his board.

The base of MacBeath's game is his skating, which will be a breath of fresh air to Rangers fans tired of seeing a slow defense. He glides around the ice, pivots strongly in both directions, and can stop quickly from top speed or accelerate rapidly from a standstill. Offensively, he does a pretty good job of weaving the skating into his possessions. The Calgary Hitmen defenseman escapes pressure behind the goal line and starts breakouts by carrying the puck up ice.

MacBeath is someone to start plays but is not really a major executor up the ice. He has pretty good vision and the legs to activate in the offensive zone, but he's not a real quarterback at the blue line and has average shooting and passing ability. His numbers in the WHL are projectable, though: 51 points in 67 games last season.

Defensively, MacBeath has a lot to learn. He can get a bit frantic in defensive coverages, often reactive rather than proactive. I've seen him freeze up with indecision when figuring out what coverage to pick up as a puck moves across the zone or behind the net.

This scouting report sounds more negative than positive so far, but here's the deal: He is a very gifted player. A 6'2" defenseman with excellent skating mechanics is an appetizing starting point. He heads to the University of Denver this season, where he'll be coached by prodigy David Carle. It is unequivocally the ideal landing spot for a talented defenseman who needs a hockey education.

He'll need two, maybe three years in the NCAA before turning pro, but the Rangers have to be thrilled with this development plan, and he could come out the other side as a future second-pairing NHL defenseman.

It was a better sophomore season for Emery, albeit still underwhelming.

The 2024 first-round pick was drafted for his skating and physicality. That much of his game remains present. He's nice to watch when he's moving around the ice. Crossovers and pivots look effortless. He has another gear when it's a race. He also has good footwork when moving while in defense.

Physically, I think he plays a heavier style than he gets credit for. He is not hesitant to battle around the net, fighting for positioning and shoving the shaft of his stick into the back of the net-front presence. He does need to get stronger. His reported 185-pound weight is well below where he should be as a 6'3" shutdown defenseman.

And although he took some steps this season (and really showed it at the end of the season), Emery remains largely a non-factor offensively. He will use his speed to activate in the offensive zone but his puck skills are lacking and his vision and decision-making are a work in progress.

In a redraft of 2024, Emery slips into the second round. He still remains an intriguing prospect. The size-and-speed combination is too interesting to give up on for someone who turned 20 in May. He really needs to get going this next season as a junior at North Dakota in order to trend towards an NHL career as a No 4 defenseman.

The Rangers were fortunate to grab Spence at 43rd overall in 2025 — I thought he should have gone around 35th — and he reaffirmed that perspective as a freshman at the University of Michigan last season. Granted, much of his production came early in the season against weak competition. Twenty percent of his 25 points came in two games against Mercyhurst. He went cold mid-season but, to his credit, played some of his best hockey in tournament play to end the season.

Spence offers visceral appeal. As a winger, he has high-end north-south speed, a major motor, and a spicy attitude. These traits, which served him well in the OHL, absolutely translated immediately in college hockey. He's an effective forechecker; he gets pucks out of his own end through sheer determination, and he beats defensemen to the net.

My previous criticism of his game was that his offensive style was "vanilla." He got on the scoresheet thanks to his speed and work ethic, but at the NHL level that limited his upside. I still think that largely holds true, but he made some meaningful improvements. He has a bit of soft skill and unpredictability to his game now: give-and-go passing sequences, a willingness to try to stickhandle through a defender, the occasional backdoor seam pass.

I still see him as a future NHL third liner, but we're talking about the type who really stands out. A top penalty killer and forechecker with 35-40 points and maybe an 'A' on his sweater. If he continues to develop his soft skills, there may even be a chance he could bump up to a second-line trajectory. Talk of NHL futures is almost always hypothetical for prospects, and less than 20% of second-round picks go on to play 500-plus NHL games. I think Spence's odds are at least ten percentage points higher than that.

Acquired in the Vincent Trocheck trade, Cole Beaudoin was the 24th-overall selection in the 2024 NHL Draft.

He is, primarily, a fierce competitor. It does not matter who is on the ice, in what situation, or in what league. He's not going to get outworked. The effort he puts in to get up ice or back in transition makes him a major asset on the forecheck and defensively.

He's also incredibly strong. He plays through contact and can skate at full speed while staying balanced on his skates. He doesn't get knocked off his puck easily, and he shows incredible leverage when he widens his stance and gets low in board battles. Beaudoin is also excellent on faceoffs.

While he doesn't have superlative skill, he's put in a lot of work to accentuate his abilities to become more of a threat. His skating, once a notable liability, has averaged out and he now has something of a separation gear in open ice against slower defenders, though his stride is still inefficient and choppy.

He has a nice wrist shot, and his catch-and-release is good enough to beat goaltenders in motion. He plays at a high tempo but isn't frenetic with the puck and shows some spatial awareness when carrying it through the neutral zone, finding paths around traffic.

Beaudoin likely peaks as a depth player, but he has a really high floor as a special type of support piece. I like his odds of turning into a 200-foot third-line center who becomes a forechecking machine, creates via cycle offense, never takes a shift off, and scores the occasional shorthanded goal.

Greentree is 6'3" and 216 pounds and is the organization's top prospect when it comes to pure, raw skill. That includes fifth-overall pick Alberts Šmits.

He wants the puck on his stick, and he will drive possessions. Despite lacking foot speed, he creates zone entries with vision, stickhandling, and a long reach that makes it hard for defenders to take the puck off him. He may not be an overly physical player in terms of hitting, but he does not shy away from contact and will operate in open ice.

It really is that combination of reach, stick skills, and vision that makes him such an offensive threat. If he has the size advantage, he'll keep pucks away from his body to create space to move around the offensive zone and find a shooting or passing lane. Yet if a bigger player tries to jump in, he'll pull the puck inside and get around the defender that way. His wrist shot is very good, and he is equally strong as a passer across the slot line.

Success will come down to improving his pace of play. Right now, he is a killer at slow tempos. With time and space to make things happen, he'll get it done. As he moves up to pro hockey next season, he'll have less of that. He needs to improve his acceleration and top speed.

It's also about mixing in different tempos of execution. It can't always be about using the entire 24-second shot clock, metaphorically speaking. Quicker puck execution will prevent pro defenses from skating him into traps and add another element of uncertainty, allowing him to sometimes operate at a slower pace when it best suits the situation.

Greentree should get at least a full year in the NHL and, if all goes well, he may earn a game or two in 2026-2027 before really challenging for a top-nine spot in September 2027. He has second-line upside as an offensive winger who features on the top PP unit and produces 20-25 goals and 30-35 assists.

I wrote a sizable scouting report on Šmits after the 2026 Draft. I'm not going to be able to outdo that effort here. I recommend checking out that piece for a deeper look at Šmits.

Here are the cliff notes: He's big and fast. He eats up a lot of ice. He plays a physical and aggressive game. Sometimes his aggressive decisions get him in trouble, but coaches will appreciate his ambition and work with him to maintain a confident game while picking his spots.

He's a huge asset in a rush offense, beating his checks up the ice to create numerical advantages for his team. He has a hard shot, but he isn't a true quarterback from the blue line and won't manipulate defenses. He has a very high floor in the NHL — it's very tough to see him as anything less than a strong second-pairing defenseman — and his physical tools and determination are so alluring that one can imagine him figuring it all out and becoming a dominant, 25-minute needle-mover.

The path the Rangers and Šmits choose for the near future will be very interesting. He's not far from being NHL-ready, even at 18, but the Rangers have been burned by rushing prospects in the past. There also is no obvious spot on the NHL roster for him at the moment. Do they keep him around to start the season anyway? Does he go to the AHL? Or do they send the Latvian back across the Atlantic to Finland's Liiga?

One Europe-based NHL scout I spoke with compared him to Washington's Jakob Chychrun.

"I think there's legit top-pair upside. Second-best defenseman in the (2026) draft for me," the scout said.

The Rangers' success in selecting fifth overall won't only come down to which player they took but also to the steps that followed in that player's development. Smits can become a big-time player but it can't be taken for granted.