Rangers Face Tough Choices for Rookie Smits | New York Rangers News

Corey (0:00)

It's October 31st. I'm Corey with the story. This is New York Rangers News Today, driven by AI and built for fans. Okay, big news out of the Rangers camp. They made some significant changes to their forward lines of practice, but left the defense pairings as is. Head coach Mike Sullivan is keeping Adam Fox with Vladislav Gavrkov, but the rest of the blue line? It's still a question mark. At the heart of that mystery is 18-year-old rookie Alberts Smits. He made history as the highest drafted Latvian player, and started the season strong, but now he's spacing a serious learning curve in the NHL. The organization wants to manage his development carefully, but the clock's ticking on figuring out how to best support him.

Smits has been logging around 2,001 minutes at 5 on 5 with some tough numbers. He holds the lowest offensive stats among Rangers defensemen, and the mix with his partner Braden Schneider isn't doing him any favors. Schneider's frantic style on the puck means Smits is stuck playing it safe, and that's hurting his game big time. If Sullivan wants to see real progress from Smits, he's got to pair him with a mobile defenseman. Scott Morrow could be that guy, taking some pressure off and letting Smits be more aggressive. We've seen glimpses of potential when Smits teamed up with Sean Dursey, so there's definitely a different dynamic to explore. If that doesn't pan out, the Rangers might have to consider sending Smits to the AHL for some solid development time.

Hartford's coach, Jay Leach, is known for his skills in helping young players grow.

It could be exactly what Smits needs to regain his confidence and develop properly. Either way, the Rangers got some tough decisions ahead as they head into a busy November schedule.