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 Buffalo through Oshawa in this article, and then Ottawa through Vancouver in Part II.

As I did last year, I’m not going to make specific standings predictions. I’ll break things up into groups: Top 4, Middle 4 (i.e. #5-8), and Miss Playoffs (#9-14).

Buffalo Bandits

Yes, they lost Chase Fraser and Chris Cloutier, and Justin Martin retired, but they also gained Ryan Benesch, Mike Triolo, and Mitch de Snoo. That’s more than the number of changes they made last season, but they’re still the reigning champs. They have strong offense, transition, defense, and goaltending, as well as depth at every position except goalie but unless Matt Vinc’s level of play falls off a cliff, who the backup goalie is probably won’t matter much.

Look out for

In last year’s “Look out for” section about the Bandits, I said “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.” Same again.

Prediction

Top 4.

Calgary Roughnecks

The Roughnecks have replaced eventual Hall-of-Famers Curtis Dickson, Dane Dobbie, and Jesse King with Riley Loewen and some rookies. They are also lost Reece Callies and Ethan Ticehurst on the back end, and Nick Rose is returning to the Rock, to nobody’s surprise. That’s a lot of changes for one team, but it seems to me that we’ve had this conversation in the past about the Roughnecks, and they always seem to rise to the occasion. Will they finish in the top 4 and host a playoff game? I doubt it but I don’t think they’ll be terrible.

Look out for

Aden Walsh has a lot of pressure on him, technically replacing Nick Rose but more accurately, replacing Christian Del Bianco. He played well in Vancouver last season before the arrival of Del Bianco, and the probably-not-very-high expectations for the Roughnecks will reduce that pressure slightly. I think he’ll have a strong debut season in Calgary.

Prediction

They won’t be terrible but I’m still going with Miss playoffs.

Colorado Mammoth

Andrew Kew combined with Ryan Lee and Will Malcom looks like a very strong top three. But they are losing Tyson Gibson, Connor Kelly, Connor Robinson, and Zed Williams, who combined for 178 points last season. If Eli McLaughlin returns soon that will help, but the Mammoth will be relying on some of their rookies to step up and produce right away.

Look out for

Andrew Kew will benefit from having Lee and Malcom with him. Or will they benefit from having Kew there? Yes.

Prediction

Too many offensive losses, and Kew can’t make up for *all* of them. Miss playoffs.

Georgia Swarm

Similar to the Roughnecks, the Swarm are losing a who’s who of top-notch Swarm players over the last few years: Andrew Kew, Jeremy Thompson, Miles Thompson, John Ranagan, Joey Cupido, Liam Byrnes, and Brendan Bomberry. They got Connor Kelly from Colorado but there are rumblings that he won’t be playing and he’s not on the active roster. Zach Miller is returning to Georgia after missing last season, but the only other addition who has any NLL experience is backup goalie Devlin Shanahan – and he was backing up Matt Vinc in Buffalo, so his experience is not that extensive anyway.

Look out for

Shayne Jackson’s points-per-game average of 4.17 last year was his lowest since 2014, and was almost two full points lower than his 2020 MVP season average of 6.08. He’s due for a bounce-back year.

Prediction

Too many question marks for me. Miss playoffs.

Halifax Thunderbirds

Not many changes in Halifax this off-season. They’ve brought in Brendan Bomberry from Georgia and veteran defender Ethan O’Connor from Albany. They also signed Justin Geddie after Las Vegas released him, so they are starting the season with three goalies on the active roster.

Look out for

Dawson Theede picked up 54 points last season, only four fewer than the previous season, but played six fewer games. If he’s healthy all year, he could reach 80 or even 90 points.

Prediction

Middle 4 but I was very tempted to put top 4.

Las Vegas Desert Dogs

There is no question that the Desert Dogs offense will be better this season than last season. Adding Mitch Jones, Chris Cloutier, and Chase Fraser is likely to make any team’s offense better. That said, they are down Holden Cattoni and Casey Jackson, and it’s possible that Jack Hannah may not be around, so how much better they are may depend on what return they get for Hannah. They also added veterans John LaFontaine and Tony Malcom to their back end, but last year’s second-youngest goaltending tandem in the league actually got younger as they released 24-year-old Justin Geddie and replaced him with Caleb Khan, who won’t turn 19 until March. The offense is much better than last year but the question is still goaltending. They might be winning a few 15-14 games.

Look out for

Chris Cloutier. Cloutier played more of a secondary scoring role in Buffalo, which makes sense when you look at the other offensive guys on that team. But he’ll be closer to the top of the pecking order in Vegas, and with more touches will come more points.

Prediction

As I said, goaltending is still a big question mark for me. I think the Desert Dogs are much better than last year but there are still too many better teams ahead of them. Miss playoffs. More than my prediction for any other team, I hope I’m wrong here.

Oshawa FireWolves

The FireWolves went to the Championships in 2024 but took a bit of a step back last season once they realized that what they had done in 2024 was actually *really hard*. Adding veteran and four-time Defender of the Year Kyle Rubisch to the back end will help immensely. Their young offensive core of Simmons, Kurtz, Williams, and Walker is one of the best anywhere and they are all still getting better.

Look out for

Dyson Williams is now playing in his hometown. He’s not the captain of the team, but he’s the face of the team. He had 64 points in a very good rookie season and was named Rookie of the Year, but I think he takes a leap forward in 2026. He’s not hitting Jeff Teat or Dhane Smith numbers, but 80-90 points isn’t out of the question.

Prediction

Back to the playoffs. Middle four.