FORT LAUDERDALE — The Florida Panthers hold a first-round NHL draft pick for the first time since 2021, and a 6-3 Latvian defenseman with two professional seasons and Olympic experience could be the target when the team goes on the clock at No. 9 in Buffalo on June 26.
Alberts Smits, who turned 18 in December, is the projected pick for the Panthers in a mock draft assembled by San Jose Hockey Now’s Sheng Peng, with Florida Hockey Now’s George Richards making the selection. Smits ranked No. 2 on the NHL Central Scouting final ranking of international skaters after logging two pro seasons with Jokerit in the Finnish Liiga and playing in Germany.
Smits was the youngest player at the Olympics, where he averaged almost 19 minutes a game and recorded two assists representing Latvia. He added four assists at the World Championship, giving him extensive international experience rare for a draft-eligible teenager.
General Manager Bill Zito has traded Florida’s previous four first-round selections, and this pick would have gone to Chicago had it not carried top-10 protection. If Zito keeps the pick rather than packaging it in a trade, Smits would join Mackie Samoskevich and Anton Lundell as the only first-round picks the Panthers have made this decade. Florida Hockey Now noted the franchise’s existing pipeline of Latvian talent as another factor favoring the selection.
The draft class is widely considered deep, and there is no certainty Smits will still be available at nine. Toronto holds the first overall pick and is expected to take winger Gavin McKenna, who starred as a freshman at Penn State, though TSN’s Mark Masters acknowledged the Leafs could go in another direction or trade the selection. San Jose sits at No. 2, where Peng projected defenseman Chase Reid as someone who could be “a true No. 1 defenseman” for the Sharks.
The Panthers hold seven picks overall across the two-day draft June 26-27 at KeyBank Center in Buffalo. NHL free agency opens July 1, with the Panthers’ development camp scheduled for late June or early July at IcePlex in Fort Lauderdale, rookie camp in late August or early September, and training camp in early to mid-September ahead of the 2026-27 season opener in late September.