Alberts Šmits arrives at World Juniors and is already turning from a curiosity to commodity

SAINT PAUL, Minnesota – Heading into the 2026 World Junior Championship, Alberts Šmits was already one of the most intriguing prospects to watch. 

A late 2007 birthday and eligible for the 2026 NHL Draft, Šmits started grabbing scouts attention in Finland, quickly moving from Jukurit’s under-20 team to the professional level and earning top-pairing minutes in Liiga.

He’s a physical specimen at 6-foot-3, 205 pounds, who not only moves extremely well, but also brings a healthy aggressiveness to all three zones. He jumps into the attack, can run a power play, and embraces physical contact that leaves a mark. 

Here at Elite Prospects, we ranked him No. 9 in our November top-50 for the 2026 NHL Draft. Heading into this tournament, my colleague Cam Robinson made his bold prediction that by the end of this tournament, Šmits would be a household name. Others I’ve spoken to, in both the scouting and media community, had Latvia games circled on their calendar to attend in person because of Šmits.

Then, take all of that buildup, the simmering conversations, and Šmits decided to stoke the fire when asked about opening the tournament against fellow 2026 NHL Draft top prospect, Gavin McKenna, the presumptive No. 1 pick at this point. 

“I have played against bigger guys,” Šmits said. “I don’t think about guys I’m going to play against. So, I’m just going to do my thing out there.”

Šmits, and Latvia, then went and did their thing, going toe-to-toe with Canada in an eventual 2-1 overtime loss. It was a sharp reminder for Canada of what happened exactly 365 days ago, when Latvia won their round robin meeting 3-2 in a shootout. 

Šmits played 23 minutes and 53 seconds, and helped anchor a defensive effort that smothered Canada and eliminated the middle of the ice. The Latvians were patient and opportunistic, and there were multiple times that Šmits helped his team defuse potential Canadian rush chances with his skating and play reading. 

Šmits likely will become one of the stories of this tournament, and he’s going to be one of the biggest stories for the 2026 NHL Draft. 

His personal story, as we learned after the game, is fascinating. 

Šmits has lived in Finland since he was 13, a move to advance his hockey career, and he’s lived on his own in an apartment. He learned to take care of himself, he said, and it’s a move that’s paid off in his development as both a person and hockey player. 

“Of course at the start it was a little bit tough,” Šmits said. “But I got used to it and now I’m living on my own and living my own life, like a real person … made a lot of mistakes, but that’s how life goes, you learn from them and move on and grow.”

For example, Šmits said he learned to speak English because it was the only way he could communicate in Finnish locker rooms. He has since learned conversational Finnish, enough to get by with teammates at Jukurit. 

Šmits walks around with a clear no-nonsense approach to his hockey career. He doesn’t have a favourite player, he doesn’t compare himself to anyone, and when he was asked about his family and brother, he refused to give their names. 

When Latvia won the bronze medal at the 2023 IIHF World Championships, a pretty big moment for the country, he wasn’t able to watch because he was too busy practicing himself. 

While Šmits is direct about his approach, Latvia head coach Artis Ābols said it’s important to remember that despite his physical size and maturity, the defenceman is still in fact a teenager who's being closely watched by the entire hockey world. 

“It’s big for him and I don’t think he knew what to expect from that game,” Ābols said. “He played against guys the same age and everyone will compare him to the Canadians. I think as the game went on, he started playing more the system we want to play.”

Ābols said one of the discussion points with Šmits at this tournament is finding balance. He doesn’t want to take away Šmits' creativity or approach, but he said it’s important for the defender to understand he has to play more patiently and reactive in this tournament because he’s not playing with professionals back in Finland. 

“You know you need to see what you have,” Ābols said. “You can’t play open hockey with a team that has the speed and skillful like Canada … We want to be aggressive, but until you have a gun with a 100 bullets you can’t shoot all over. If you have a gun with 10 bullets, you have to be smart.”

That’s something that will be interesting to track in Šmits draft year. He’s going to be more careful and controlled in this tournament, by design, while his game will be a bit more risky and aggressive in Finland. There’s also something about his game that will translate well as the teammates around him improve. On Saturday, for example, there were multiple plays where he made reads and passes that better players would have been able to catch or make a play on. 

Either way, in just one game, Šmits has already done what we expected. He’s gone from a curiosity to an instant commodity on North American soil, someone that looks ready to play pro hockey here in the not-to-distant future. 

And if there’s any major adjustment, Ābols said, it might come with Šmits having to cut down his stick. 

“He will come to North America (and) he will cut his stick because the corners are not that wide to defend as in Europe,” Ābols said. “I expect he will have a bright future.”