Smits certainly played to the media wonderfully too.
When asked if he felt it would be good going head-to-head against fellow 2026 draft prospects forward Gavin McKenna and defenseman Carson Carels of Canada to measure himself, Smits smiled and said, “I have played against bigger guys, so I don’t think about what guys I’m going to play against. I’m just going to do my thing out there.”
McKenna, a left wing at Penn State University, is No. 1 on Central Scouting’s midterm ranking of North American skaters. Carels, who plays for Prince George in the Western Hockey League, is No. 3 on the North American list.
“I love the fact that he’s bold,” said TSN director of scouting and former NHL general manager Craig Button. “I don’t think there’s anything to not like about somebody that’s confident in himself, that’s going to say, ‘Hey, I’m not intimidated. I’m here. I played against big players.’
“He’s played in Liiga and that’s a hard league.”
Smits, who served as an assistant captain for Latvia, had three shots on goal, a plus-1 rating and played a game-high 24:37 in Latvia’s 2-1 overtime loss to Canada in a preliminary-round game Dec. 27.
Abols said Smits’ game should translate well to the NHL.
“The Latvia journalists asked me before the [WJC] tournament, what will be more important for him, playing the World Juniors or going to the Olympics?” he said. “I told them World Juniors is important because everyone will compare him to the same aged players, especially Canadians. They need to see how he looks. At the Olympics, everyone might see how close he is to the NHL because he will play against the real NHL players, against the men.
“Alberts wants to be pro. He prepares everything like that. You don’t need to watch and remind him … he wants to be a pro. You can see that right away.”
Smits will play alongside forward Zemgus Girgensons at the Olympics. Girgensons, who plays for the Tampa Bay Lightning, became the highest-drafted Latvia-born player when the Buffalo Sabres selected him with the No. 14 pick of the 2012 NHL Draft.