MILAN – Four years ago in Beijing, a teenage prospect arrived on the Olympic stage, took the men’s ice hockey tournament by storm and gave a massive boost to his NHL draft stock.
His performance in that Beijing tournament heavily influenced the Montreal Canadiens’ decision to draft Juraj Slafkovský with the No. 1 overall pick at the 2022 NHL Draft. It gave them confidence that a big stage did not scare him and he would not wilt under the pressure, something Slafkovský is showing with Slovakia again at these Olympics.
A similar story might have been written by Latvia’s 6-foot-3, 205-pound teenage defenseman Alberts Šmits, the lone draft-eligible player in the Olympic tournament this year.
Šmits’ tournament came to an end in the qualifying round Tuesday when Latvia lost 4-1 to Sweden, but the rangy, physical defenseman with excellent hands and feet left an excellent impression on his teammates and anyone who watched him.
Earlier in the tournament, after Latvia faced the United States in the preliminary round, Šmits was asked about the opportunity in front of him to give a Slafkovský-like boost to his draft stock with a strong performance against the best players in the world. He had just come off a loss, but he was able to see the big-picture benefits of his time in Milan.
“Of course it’s a great opportunity, a great challenge for me that I’m glad and honored to take, to see myself and see what I need to improve to play against those types of players, the top players in the world,” he said on Feb. 12. “It’s a big challenge I have for me and for us as a team.”
It was a telling sign of his competitive nature that five days later, in the immediate aftermath of his country’s elimination, Šmits was unable to see the big picture anymore. He didn’t care about his draft stock.
“That’s not why I came here,” he said Tuesday after the loss to Sweden. “I came here to help my team and do my best to help my country. I didn’t come here for the draft rankings.”
That may very well be true, but how Šmits is viewed by NHL teams after his performance in a best-on-best tournament can only have improved. He played on his team’s top pair, averaged 18:44 of ice time per game and not only did not look out of place, but looked like he belonged just two months after his 18th birthday.
Latvia and Columbus Blue Jackets goalie Elvis Merzļikins is no NHL scout, but when he was asked about the young players on the Latvia roster, he gave a long answer about the poise they played with, how it was impressive for him to watch them face this level of competition and play freely, with little to no nerves, and how it bodes well for the future of Latvian hockey.
But when asked specifically about Šmits, Merzļikins put on his NHL scouting cap.
“I’m definitely, when I get back home I need to talk to Columbus, because that’s what I meant. Mostly, I was talking about him,” he said. “The forwards I really don’t care because they’re not really my job; my closest friends are my defensemen. And him, he played lights out. The kid is really calm, focused, makes decisions quick, physical. Blocking shots, he doesn’t really care about getting hurt or pain or anything. And mentally, he’s really mature as a kid as well.
“It’s exactly him I was talking about. I’m happy and proud of him, and I’m happy that we have this type of player coming up for the future and the next many years for our nation.”
What impressed his veteran teammates the most is how Šmits never backed down despite the quality of opponent he was facing. He was not in awe, he was not intimidated, he just played.
“I’m here to show what I can do on the ice,” Šmits said after the game against the U.S. “I’m here to compete and not to admire other players.”
Šmits demonstrated that most clearly against the Americans when he lined up U.S. captain Auston Matthews and dropped him with a big open-ice hit.
“He has a swagger, and that’s good,” Merzļikins said. “He has a similar character as me. Maybe that’s why I like him, he really doesn’t give a s— who is in front of him, what is the name, it doesn’t matter. He is just going to go cross-check the guy, give it back if he has to, and obviously protect me. He has all good values.
“So again, I seriously have to go talk to Columbus.”
Our NHL draft experts Corey Pronman and Scott Wheeler both have Šmits in the top 10 of their latest draft rankings; Pronman has him at No. 8, Wheeler at No. 5. The only Latvian to ever be drafted in the first round is Zemgus Girgensons, who was taken by the Buffalo Sabres with the No. 14 pick in 2012. Šmits is all but assured to go higher than Girgensons did, especially after his performance in Milan.
“He’s definitely a very mature kid, definitely the most mature 18-year-old I’ve seen,” Girgensons said. “Great player, great skill, great poise for his age, so I think he’s going to do great things moving forward…On the ice, I think it’s just poise, his poise with the puck, he can hold on to the puck.
“Usually guys that age try to rush plays and get rid of it, he definitely has the poise with it.”
Latvia captain Kaspars Daugaviņš played 91 games in the NHL, but he was also a third-round pick of the Ottawa Senators in 2006. When Girgensons was taken in the first round, and Teddy Blueger was taken at No. 52 by the Pittsburgh Penguins, it set off a run of five straight years where a Latvian player got drafted.
Daugaviņš hopes Šmits can have a similar effect on Latvia in the coming years.
“It puts the belief in other kids when you have somebody drafted really high,” he said. “First of all, it’s the kids that watch him, they will start believing. But the other thing is hockey will know, like, the scouts. Two or three years ago when we won a bronze medal at the world championships, the scouts in the world start thinking, ‘Oh, these guys know how to play hockey.’
“So the next generations will be seen.”
For now, Šmits is headed back to Jukurit in Finland, a country he moved to on his own at age 13 to further his hockey career and has played in ever since. Wherever he lands in the draft is not his concern right now, and when asked by a Finnish reporter after the loss to Sweden if this would be his final season in Finland, Šmits responded that it was far too early to answer that question.
But as far as Merzļikins is concerned, after what he saw in Milan, it’s not too early at all.
“I think he has a good chance to start playing in the NHL,” he said. “I’ve seen a lot. Obviously I had never seen him on the small ice, but now I think he easily can play.”