March 25, 2026
By Ryan Baker

2025 brought the UFA a crop of players that affected the league immediately. The MVP runner-up and three All-Team honors selections were rookies last year, and that doesn’t express the impact that some of them had on their respective teams. 10 different rookies landed in the top three of their team’s scoring, and 12 of them were in the top three of their team’s blocks in 2025. 

Here are some year two players to keep a close eye on for the 2026 season.

Year Two Transfers

2025 Rookie Of The Year and unanimous First Team All-UFA selection Daan De Marrée will be suiting up for the New York Empire in 2026, a move of great magnitude not just for the East Division, but the league as a whole. As Evan Lepler put it yesterday in his column, "De Marrée has the potential to be an all-time great. And for 2026, he’s wearing New York pinstripes." 

The other two are First Team All Rookies Jonathan Lyle, joining the San Diego Growlers in 2026, and Second Team All Rookie Carson Armstrong, now with the Salt Lake Shred. Both should bring a major impact to their respective offenses. Lyle will be a much-needed spark for the Growlers, who need help in the playoffs, and Armstrong could fill most of Will Selfridge's offensive role for the Shred.

Oakland's Eight-Legged Future

The Oakland Spiders are going to be scary in 2026, and are my humble pick to win the West this year. That is because Oakland has Leo Gordon, Adam Rees, Saul Wildavsky, and Carter Lankford all entering their sophomore year in the UFA. These four were a major factor in getting the Spiders to the two seed in the division last year.

Gordon and Rees, both First Team All Rookie selections, cemented themselves as top offensive threats. Gordon’s shiftiness and dual threat abilities produced 32 assists and 15 goals in nine games, while Rees became a premier downfield option with 39 goals and 2,716 receiving yards. Adding Wildavsky’s downfield awareness and ability to stretch the field, along with the core led by Walker Frankenburg, creates a top-five, possibly best, offense in 2026.

The fourth player, Lankford, was a two-way menace in 2025, earning himself Second Team All Rookie honors and is one of those players that can produce game breaking plays on both sides of the disc.

Now, these four have a year of experience and an offseason to address specific weaknesses fueled by the heartbreak of the one-point loss to the Shred in the West Divisional Championship game. Expect these four to be on a revenge tour all season in hopes to give the Spiders their first ever Championship Weekend appearance.

De Morgan's Homecoming In Minnesota

The signing of Nate De Morgan to the Minnesota Wind Chill has gotten some attention and rightfully so. He joins a very established team that added more weapons, so it may take a few games before we see him get some significant playing time. With Salt Lake last year, he posted 14 assists, 10 goals, and four blocks in eight games. Those are incredibly impressive numbers for a rookie on one of the deepest teams in the league.

De Morgan could be a secret weapon come late in the season and into the playoffs for the Wind Chill. His knowledge of the West division and pace of play could pay dividends down the stretch when Minnesota travels to Oakland and in any potential West Division matchups during Championship Weekend.  He won’t join the team until after his college season concludes, so film will be minimal, but impact could be massive.

Salt Lake's Newest Brotherly Duo

For a franchise already stocked with brothers, there is a potential defensive juggernaut brewing in Salt Lake with the dynamic duo of Kimball and Sam Pew. The brothers combined for 22 blocks in 2025 and showed flashes of high-impact transition offensive play for the highly-touted Shred.

The Pews were interchangeable on where they landed on the transition attack, combining for 15 assists and 17 goals on the season, and both hold a skill of smart decision making, as there were only a combined six turnovers between the brothers.

Departures Could Open Opportunities In Colorado

With Tobias Brooks, Noah Coolman, and Alex Atkins out of the picture for the Apex in 2026, there is a large amount of playing time that will need to be replaced. Two guys who could be thrust into those roles are Alex Piper and Hunter May. Both of these guys went under the radar last year, but showed potential to have a big impact.

Piper only played in four games last year, but his 6’3” height gives Colorado an advantage in the downfield space, so if he can get on the field more often, expect Piper to have some of the top numbers for the Apex in 2026. Meanwhile, May had a more productive 2025 as he had four assists, 12 goals, and 11 blocks over the course of 10 games. Those block numbers should increase, simply because the aforementioned three departures produced a lot of those blocks in 2025, and his 6’5” frame is a project to gameplan around.

Raymond's Return Could Be Much Needed For Champs In Boston

This is an interesting one. Malachi Raymond is entering another year with the Boston Glory after his rookie season was stopped short in 2024 after suffering a season-ending injury. Raymond hasn’t played since, so technically 2026 will be his sophomore season; he does, interestingly, already have a trophy in his possession after earning the distinguished BE “Be The Change” community award last year. He didn’t produce a whole ton during those two games, but it is hard for a rookie to do so on a squad that is as talented as Boston.

Raymond comes from Middlebury College, a highly-esteemed college ultimate program, and was able to soak in everything from Boston’s 2025 championship run. If he returns to true form and gets some playing time early in the season, he could be a major factor in Boston attempting to repeat.

Players That Could Push Teams into the Playoffs

There are plenty of second-year players on teams that have been itching for a playoff spot, and these guys could be the reason we see some new faces in the playoffs for 2026.

For the Seattle Cascades, Second Team All-Rookie selections Connor Belfield and Langley Fitzpatrick are two monsters that are only going to improve after their impressive rookie campaigns. Belfield has an unlimited motor that gave him 23 assists and 20 goals last year, and Fitzpatrick established himself as a defensive powerhouse, snatching 14 blocks in 2025. These two could help propel Seattle into that final playoff spot in the West.

For the Philadelphia Phoenix, Chase Rawlins, Max Tran, and Jack Wisner, it’s all about opportunity. The Phoenix watched a lot of their guys depart in the offseason, and they are bringing in eight rookies for the 2026 season. Philly may switch Rawlins over to a more predominant offensive role, given his production on transition offense, while Tran and Wisner will lead that defensive front. 

For the Oregon Steel, Archer Gordon and Zac Scheuerman proved to be threats in the cutting space on both sides of the disc in 2025. On offense, Gordon amassed 21 goals and 1,735 receiving yards, showing that he can be the focal point of the Steel offense. On defense, Scheuerman had nine blocks and complemented that with 13 goals en route to being one of the top cutter defenders for Oregon. These two are going to be heavily relied upon in 2026 and should make a name for themselves.

Final Thoughts

Impact rookies from 2025 Sam Grossberg, Sebastian Rossi, Tom Blasman, Arvids Karklins, and Toms Abeltins are not on rosters as of now, so it will be something to keep an eye if they end up somewhere by the beginning of the season, but for now, this is the sophomore class that needs to be focused on for 2026.

The talent pool for this sophomore class is riveting and compelling. There are guys across the board that could make cases for All-UFA teams in 2026, and could be the reason teams end up in the playoff hunt. Getting that first year under your belt, taking that into the offseason, and honing those skills are when a lot of players take massive leaps in their production and impact.