March 10, 2026
By Adam Ruffner
Through all the twists and turns and speculations whirlwinding around rosters this offseason, we've finally arrived at Roster Day 2026. Last year showcased a substantial amount of parity, with three franchises seeking their first title at Championship Weekend before Boston eventually came away with the crown. This season will feature much of the same fiery competition, especially after so many marquee moves and players joining new teams.
And with another 45 days until opening pull, all of these changes have me thinking of big questions for each of the four divisions
Do the signings of Alex Atkins and Daan De Marrée make New York favorites to win the East Division?
Just when it looked like the Empire’s dynastic window was finally shutting for good, the league’s winningest franchise added two of the top players in the world to fortify an aging-but-determined core, and are once again poised to add to their three UFA titles tally. Atkins and De Marrée are high volume, gravitational stars no matter where they are deployed, but their playmaking pedigrees make them shoe-in fits for the offense; Atkins is one of just eight players ever to average 40-plus completions and five-plus scores (assists plus goals) per game for his career, and his pterodactyl reach makes him a problem in the backfield and downfield as a receiving target; De Marrée has the best motor in the sport right now and is likely the MVP favorite going into the 2026 season—his ability to create separation makes him a mismatch at every spot on the field.
Let’s take a crack at a potential Empire O-line, shall we? Atkins, De Marrée, Jack Williams finally healthy after an hamstring-plagued* 2025 season, Ben Jagt coming off his seventh consecutive All-UFA selection, backfield turret and one of the most precise high-volume passers Solomon Rueschemeyer-Bailey, and the emerging talents of dual threat strikers Matt LaBar and Oliver Chartock. The new free agency additions could allow John Randolph to slide back into his more traditional D-line captain role, and none of this accounts for the potential return of Calvin Brown, who averaged team highs in 2025 in assists per game (3.9) and throwing yards (524) before a season-ending injury shortened his first campaign with the Empire.
Atkins-De Marrée-Williams-Jagt-SRB-LaBar-Chartock with splashes of Randolph rotated in for clutch drives. That looks about as “championship caliber” as it gets.
And not only have the Empire supercharged their attack, the other two playoff titans in the division from DC and Boston both experienced some notable losses to their defenses. The reigning champs will not be returning 2025 Defensive Player Of The Year Tannor Johnson-Go, as well as several other Glory D-line starters including Tyler Chan and Ethan Fortin. The Breeze will be without experienced defenders Alexandre Fall, Moussa Dia, and David Bloodgood, the latter of whom retired over the offseason and departed the franchise as a top three player in total games played, points played, and blocks. Both teams gave New York’s offense a good deal of grief last season—the normally airtight Empire committed 38 turnovers combined in their final two games against Boston and DC—and with less teeth in their coverage units, De Marrée and the Empire could have explosive performances.
* Even a “down year” for Williams produced 40-plus scores and 5000 yards.
Will Indy’s position in the Central Division standings actually improve with all their new additions?
Three years removed from their last playoff appearance, the AlleyCats looked more like lions with the way they approached roster construction ahead of the 2026 season. Indy re-signed a raft of former ‘Cats players that included 2025 All Defense selections Xavier Payne and Will Wettengel, the league’s all-time leading scorer Cameron Brock, and one of the most promising college players in Elliot Hawkins. But more than just bringing back familiar faces, the team recruited heavily on the open market, and specifically targeted defense (James Pollard, Nate Little) and throwing (Max Squires, Jake Felton, Jon Mast) as two areas for improvement; Indy finished bottom four last year in goals allowed per game and team completion rate, and they figure to be much better in 2026.
On paper, this is the most talented AlleyCats team since at least their 2019 division title season, and its upside is much higher. Little, Pollard, and Wettengel are three of the best big defenders in the UFA, and Indy’s ability to combine them on a single line could prove tragic for an opponent's deep game, and create ample opportunities in transition. There’s also a lot of developing players—almost two lines worth, including the aforementioned Hawkins and Felton, as well as Team USA U24 selection and 2026 rookie Isaiah Mason—who have yet to really show their peaks at the professional level, and if Head Coach Nathan Bussberg and his staff can tap into that river of potential, Indy could ride a wave deep in the playoffs.
The challenge for the AlleyCats is twofold. This unproven roster faces the most challenging schedule of any team in 2026, and they must leapfrog at least one of their three rivals from Chicago, Madison, or Minnesota in the Central Division standings in order to make the playoffs. When Indy started their spree of signings back at the beginning of the winter, it seemed like Chicago or Madison may be vulnerable to a resurgent AlleyCats squad. But with the Union and Radicals both returning playoff-caliber lineups, particularly on defense, the ‘Cats and their new-look offense will have a lot of work to do before they can count on a postseason bid.
Can Salt Lake reload and protect their throne, or is it Oakland’s era in the West?
It’s hard to remember following 12 wins and their second division title in the last three years, but the Salt Lake Shred rebuilt their entire offense prior to the 2025 season. The longtime “middle linebacker” of the Shred D-line Chad Yorgason was swapped over to offense and paired with his younger brother McKay Yorgason, which made two of the quickest players in the West primary options for the Salt Lake O-line. The siblings formed the main turbine of Shred attack that finished second in success rate, constantly outpaced opposing coverages while favoring the fastbreak.
The Shred sustained a couple of notable losses in free agency. Glue guy and precision passer Braden Eberhard is headed to New York, while the uber talented Will Selfridge has signed with Atlanta for 2026. Both were key contributors to the speed and smoothness of last year’s offense, with Eberhard in particular playing one of the most unheralded-but-vital roles in the red zone; Eberhard may have only finished with eight total assists in 2025, but his 23 goals and 27 hockey assists (read: throw before the assist) indicate a major impact near the goal line.
But as certain as the tides, Salt Lake replenishes. Porter Stobbe (from Vegas) and teenager Carson Armstrong (from Austin) are two bright prospects for Coach Of The Year Bryce Merrill and his staff to cultivate, and don’t sleep on the returns of Simon Dastrup (from Chicago) and local legend Joe Merrill. With 21 games spread sporadically across three seasons of play, the 6’5” Dastrup hasn’t quite shown his true potential on the pro stage as a dual threat striker beyond glimpses, but it’s there. Merrill missed the entire 2025 season with an injury, but was still a massive contributor to last year’s Salt Lake successes as a conditioning coach for the team, and will add punch to any lineup he’s inserted on.
The challenge isn’t internal. Salt Lake has shown a perennial ability to turn over rosters and develop new talents. But their rivals in Oakland may simply be sitting on a more potent nuclear reactor of development, as the Spiders have quickly evolved from underdogs into outright contenders; Oakland just ended a six-year playoff drought in 2024, and yet already look like true league title contenders by 2026.
Offensively, the Spiders may be one of two or three other teams that can match Salt Lake’s blend of frenzy and efficiency. Evan Magsig has back-to-back 40-assist, 4,000 passing yard seasons and is one of the most dynamic primary handlers in the league right now. Walker Frankenberg’s combination of footspeed and stamina make him a diabolical matchup in one-on-one coverage, and his fiery tone-setting has been a lynchpin in rebranding Oakland as a force; on a per-game production basis in 2025, Frankenberg’s only scoring peers were De Marrée and Allan Laviolette.
And for as good as those two are, they’re really just the tip of the iceberg—one leg out of eight?—for this Spiders attack. Rookie-in-name-only Adam Rees and Leo Gordon provided nitro boosts in their pro debuts last year, and speedster Jason Vallee in a distributor/“game manager” role is a treasure few teams can enjoy. Throw in the ever reliable Saul Wildavsky (28 goals, zero drops as a rookie), and this Oakland O-line is my favorite heading into the season alongside New York.
Did I mention this team also employs two of the most heralded young talents in the sport in Raekwon Adkins (four games played in 2025) and 2025 Callahan winner Dexter Clyburn (zero games played)? If new Head Coach Liam Kreiss can figure out how to juggle and utilize all of these electric players in a steady rotation, there might not be much opponents can do to slow down the Spiders.
Who is actually the best team in the South Division?
In 2023, it was Austin. Carolina summited the South in 2024. And Atlanta finally got their cigar in last year’s divisional final after falling at the buzzer in each of the previous two seasons. It’s been a carousel at the top of the standings, and that’s not even considering the 2025 runner-ups from San Diego.
The South Division is not just four teams competing for three playoff spots—it’s four franchises with championship aspirations vying for one berth to the semifinals in 2026.
The reigning champs from Atlanta return 90 percent of last season’s starters, and just signed Selfridge earlier this month. Entering his fifth pro season in 2026, Selfridge led the Shred last year in scores with six per game, and his high tempo play in the midfield should be a great addition to the Hustle’s already league-leading offensive system; Selfridge and fellow fastbreak phenom Alec Wilson Holliday will have defenses on their heels all season long.
Similarly, San Diego has minimally-but-smartly adjusted their roster. Their new signings include throwers (Brandon Van Deusen), scorers (Jonathan Lyle), and defenders (Steven Milardovich) that bolster a team that was one of just two squads to win on the road* in the 2025 UFA playoffs. Van Deusen returned from injury and quietly had one of the most efficient throwing seasons in the UFA in 2025 playing for a new team in Chicago, and will have much more familiar receivers in 2026 with the Growlers/West coast lineup of players. Lyle had the second most scores of any rookie last year, and his ability to finish drives as a thrower and receiver make him one of the most interesting hybrids in the division. Franchise block leader Milardovich emerged from the shadows of a two-year retirement to rejoin the team in pursuit of their first UFA championship, and could be pivotal in the playoff race if he gets a couple of splashes from the fountain of youth.
Austin came out the gates hot last spring and sprinted to a 6-0 start, only to have injuries and an arrhythmic schedule lead to a first round playoff loss at home. Matt Armour, Evan Swiatek, and Duncan Fitzgerald return after season-long sabbaticals, and were key parts to the team’s first and only Championship Weekend bid in 2023. Swiatek remains number two all-time in Sol franchise history in scoring, and if he still shows his lightning quick first step, the Austin offense could make a visible leap from where they finished in 2025.
And last but certainly not least, Carolina, who has more divisional titles than the rest of the lot. The 2025 Flyers hold the unfortunate distinction of being one of the best teams in league history to miss the playoffs, and their moves over the offseason seem to indicate they do not plan on repeating last year’s results. The prodigal son of the triangle Tobias Brooks is back, and so is his track-fast college teammate and former All Rookie selection Zeke Thoreson. The vet O-line core of Allan Laviolette, Jacob Fairfax, and Terrence Mitchell is as bankable as any in the league, and if the defense can catch a break with health and/or lineup consistency, this team could rocket back to first place position in no time.
* Excluding neutral venue locations, such as Championship Weekend at Breese Stevens Field.
