As I do most seasons (missed last year), here’s a quick look at each team, where I think each team will end up, and who might have a breakout year. I’ll go alphabetically and cover Albany through Las Vegas in this article, and then Ottawa through Vancouver in Part II.

For where teams will end up, I’m not going to make specific predictions here. I’ll break things up into groups: Top 4, Middle 4 (i.e. #5-8), and Miss Playoffs (#9-14).

Albany Firewolves

They took a whole bunch of steps forward last year, possibly even overachieving. Will they fall back to Earth a bit this season? Well they might have, but now they have Dyson Williams coming in as well as Will Johansen (first round pick in 2022) and Eric Fannell. Any drop that might have happened could easily be offset by the addition of those three.

Look out for

I hear this Dyson kid’s pretty decent.

Prediction

I think they do fall back to Earth a little but still make the playoffs. Middle 4.

Buffalo Bandits

To be the best, you have to beat the best, and the Bandits are the best. Not many changes but that’s to be expected from the back-to-back Champs. Can they make it three in a row? Unless Matt Vinc falls off a cliff, or Dhane Smith and Josh Byrne both get hurt in game one, there’s no reason to believe they can’t.

Look out for

Nobody. And everybody. The Bandits will likely play much the same game they played at the end of last season, so nobody is poised for a breakout season unless someone else has a lousy one. And even in that case, they have the depth that unless the lousy season guy is Matt Vinc, they can likely withstand it.

Prediction

Top 4.

Calgary Roughnecks

Possibly the most difficult team to predict this year. They’ve lost some key players in Shane Simpson, Zach Currier, Josh Currier, Thomas Hoggarth, and probably Tyler Pace, decimating their transition. But they’ve also brought back a couple of future Hall of Famers in Curtis Dickson and Dane Dobbie. While closer to the end of their careers than the beginning, these guys can still contribute at a very high level. But of course the biggest change is the loss of Christian Del Bianco. Obviously he’s one of the top three goalies in the league, but he also had 19 assists last year, more than the next two goalies combined, so his loss further hurts the Calgary transition.

If Cam MacLeod plays 60 minutes in each of Calgary’s first four games, he’ll have doubled his career minutes. In recent years, some goalies have become dominant very early in their careers, such as Chris Origlieri, Brett Dobson, or, well, Christian Del Bianco. I have no reason to believe MacLeod won’t become a very good goalie in Calgary, but he’ll have to join that group this season for the Roughnecks to have success.

Look out for

Nathaniel Kozevnikov was also released by the Saskatchewan Rush recently, so he’ll want to prove he still belongs in the NLL. Fun fact: He has the third-longest name in NLL history at 19 letters.

Prediction

I think the loss of CDB will dominate the changes this year. If they’re going to be successful, they’ll have to win a bunch of 16-15 games. Miss playoffs.

Colorado Mammoth

After back-to-back Championship appearances, including one win, the Mammoth finished dead last in 2024. But they have Ryan Lee returning and have added Will Malcom this year. Out is Joey Cupido, in is Damon Edwards. Assuming Dillon Ward is healthy again (he wasn’t for parts of last season), this will definitely be an improved Mammoth team. But will they be improved enough to jump six spots to make the playoffs?

Look out for

I’m not going to call for a breakout year for Will Malcom because he picked up 281 points in three years with Panther City, including 104 last year. A breakout year now would put him in Jeff Teat territory and that’s an awfully bold prediction for any player. But Malcom together with Ryan Lee, Zed Williams, and Eli McLaughlin gives the Mammoth a top four that can compete with just about anyone. The Mammoth were second-last in the league goals scored last year. “Look out for” the Mammoth to blow that number out of the water this year.

Prediction

I think they do improve enough. Middle 4.

Georgia Swarm

Not a lot of changes for the Swarm, which is a bit surprising considering they finished 5th just above .500. You’d think they’d want at least a few changes to improve unless they think they underperformed last season. They were an overtime goal away from beating the Bandits in the playoffs but that’s only one game. They finished the regular season 4-2 but three of those four wins came against non-playoff teams.

Look out for

Brett Dobson has played two full seasons as a starter in the NLL and he’s only 24. He’s also got two PLL Championships and two PLL Championship Game MVP awards in two PLL seasons. Is this the year he goes from very good NLL goalie to elite NLL goalie?

Prediction

I think they did underperform last season and they right the ship this year. Top 4.

Halifax Thunderbirds

They lost quite a bit of offense with Austin Shanks going to Saskatchewan and Ryan Benesch heading for San Diego. But they did bring in big lefty Jason Knox from Panther City and big righty Thomas Hoggarth from Calgary – each of those two guys is like six inches bigger than the guys they’re replacing. Taller players doesn’t mean better players – look at, say, Austin Shanks and Ryan Benesch for example – but it does mean the Thunderbirds offense will look quite different this season. They also brought in veteran Mitch Wilde to help on D and a guy named C. Kirst, satisfying the inevitable rule that every team have a C. Kirst on their roster.

They lost two of their top three scorers, though they should get a full season out of Randy Staats (only played nine games in ’24). They lost veterans David Brock and Luc Magnan on the back end.

Look out for

Jason Knox will get more touches than in Panther City so look for him to play a big role in Halifax.

Prediction

Losing Shanks and Benesch hurts. Losing Magnan and Brock also hurts. Hoggarth, Knox, and Wilde will certainly help but I think there was more subtraction than addition. I’ve grown into a bit of a Thunderbirds fan over the last few years so I’m hoping I’m wrong, but I have to go with Miss Playoffs.

Las Vegas Desert Dogs

A ton of changes for Las Vegas. They lost captain Rob Hellyer, Zack Greer, and Charlie Bertrand but gained Jonathan Donville, Kyle Killen, and Dan Taylor. Adding Shane Simpson makes any team’s transition better, veteran David Brock joins the defence, and I’ve heard a lot of great things about rookie Adam Poitras. Rookie Nick Preston went to the Mann Cup with Victoria over the summer.

Look out for

Kyle Killen saw his points drop by about twenty last season, but he scored 43 goals in 2022. He may not climb back that high but look for way more than the 12 he had last year.

Prediction

Better than last year but still Miss Playoffs.