Thursday, 26. February 2026 |
EHC Red Bull München signs Alberts Smits from Mikkelin Jukurit
The 18-year-old is expected to arrive in Munich this afternoon and will sign a contract with the four-time German champions until the end of the 2025/26 season.
Smits is one of the outstanding European talents of his age group and is considered by numerous scouts to be a possible top-5 pick in the 2026 NHL Draft. Standing 1.91 meters tall and weighing around 93 kilograms, the left-handed shooter combines physical presence with high mobility, game awareness, and strong offensive qualities.
Smits impresses at the Olympics
The defenseman recently gained international attention at the Winter Olympics in Milan and Cortina d'Ampezzo, where he was the only draft candidate of his age group to participate in the tournament. Smits played all four games for the Latvian national team and contributed two assists.
He had already impressed at the U20 World Championship with five points in five games, confirming his reputation as a fully-fledged two-way defenseman with exceptional maturity. Smits has also made a significant impact in the Finnish “Liiga.” In the current season, he has played 38 games for Jukurit and recorded 13 points (6 goals | 7 assists).
Winkler: “One of Europe's greatest talents”
Christian Winkler, Managing Director Sports Red Bull Ice Hockey, says: "We are very proud that Alberts has chosen our organization. Neville Rautert in particular has done an outstanding job here and convinced him to take this step. Alberts is one of the greatest European defensive talents of his age group and has exceptional physical attributes, game intelligence, and maturity for his age. His performances on the international stage and in the Finnish league have shown that he can already compete at the highest level."
Smits, who moved to Finland without his family at the age of just 13, will receive the Red Bulls' eleventh foreign player license for the 2025/26 season. In the top German league, nine foreign players may be fielded per game, and a total of up to eleven players with foreign licenses may be on the roster. He will play for Munich with the jersey number 23.
Current EHC Red Bull Munich squad for the 2025/26 season:
Goaltenders (4): Antoine Bibeau (AL), Matthias Bittner, Mathias Niederberger, Simon Wolf
Defensemen (9): Konrad Abeltshauser, Maximilian Daubner, Dillon Heatherington (AL), Rio Kaiser, Ryan Murphy (AL), Ville Pokka (AL), Phillip Sinn, Alberts Smits (AL), Fabio Wagner
Forwards (15): Adam Brooks (AL), Chris DeSousa (AL), Yasin Ehliz, Markus Eisenschmid, Brady Ferguson (AL), Gabriel Fontaine (AL), Patrick Hager, Nikolaus Heigl, Taro Hirose (AL), Maximilian Kastner, Philipp Krening, Veit Oswald, Jeremy McKenna (AL), Tobias Rieder, Vadim Schreiner
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