2026 MLP Power Rankings v. 2.0 – Roster Shakeups

The Shock and Slice ended up figuring out how to work through their previously nixed trade, which was initially reported by Nico the Lefty. It doesn’t change much for the big picture landscape, but the shake-up does make things more interesting. We’ll try to address the significance of the moves in the blurbs below. 

Reminder, these are power rankings, not team rankings. This is a snapshot of how teams are doing right now (including the impact of the recent trades) and is not intended to be a projection of how we expect the teams will finish the season. Read the blurbs before you disagree. 

1. St. Louis Shock – Two event wins in a row and this team looks to have found its groove. A notable comment from Anna Bright from her post St. Louis vlog (hard to believe we even wrote that sentence) is that she had a feeling a trade would be made if their team didn’t win the St. Louis event. A comment like that does not alleviate our concerns come playoff time that this team is going to have too much pressure on their shoulders, yet again. It should help that Hunter Johnson joins the squad as their singles specialist. 

2. New Jersey 5’s – The 5’s have figured out a lot of things, but they have a glaring issue with their men that hasn’t gotten much better. Their record is slightly above .500, which might not be good enough for a team with title aspirations. If they don’t make a trade, can Noe Khlif hold up as the male seeing the majority of the touches in their reverse mixed dynamic alongside ALW? 

3. LA Mad Drops – The Mad Drops have a somewhat unexpected female problem. With a 9-8 record, Jade Kawamoto and Catherine Parenteau have not performed up to their level from 2025, and it puts this team in a precarious position when Max Freeman is supposed to be the x-factor. Is a trade incoming?  

4. Columbus Sliders – Just as the Mad Drops have an unexpected female problem, the Columbus Sliders men are not inspiring major confidence. They dropped 3 games in St. Pete, and they are having to work harder than you would expect for some of their wins. The Tyra Black upgrade raises their ceiling for 2026, and it means this season is going to come down to how Daescu and Klinger perform in crunch time. 

5. Brooklyn Pickleball Team – Brooklyn may be in a tier of their own from a contention standpoint. Their women make them better than the teams below them, but they don’t have the horses in the men’s department to compete with the big dogs of MLP. It is obvious that the Brooklyn-Riley Newman love affair needs a reality check if the franchise wants to put winning above any other considerations. 

6. Palm Beach Royals – If healthy, Palm Beach is a little more dangerous than expected because Tina Pisnik and Sofia Sewing are playing so well together. It also makes both mixed pairings tough to crack for the majority of the league when their men are healthy. Things are going to be tough going forward with Dekel hurt, Tyson nursing an ankle injury and Casey Diamond fresh on the UPA scene. 

7. Texas Ranchers – Eric Oncins is an absolute beast. He is playing a gigantic mixed with Layne Sleeth, who has proven to be a fantastic fit next to him as a pure ball-maker. The addition of Acevedo has been a mixed bag, it has unquestionably raised the ceiling for their men and mixed #2 pairing. Unfortunately for Texas, Eric Oncins can only take this team so far. Kaitlyn Christian makes Texas very scary from a Dreambreaker standpoint, but it’s so hard to win in MLP without top tier women. 

8. Orlando Squeeze – It was a disappointing St. Pete event in a very tough group. Right side Jack and left side Fed have worked well, but they haven’t been able to get any big wins outside of beating the Sliders earlier in the year. Orlando has had an objectively brutal schedule and sits at #2 in one metric on Strength of Schedule. We’d be curious to know if the DeVos family has any inclination to upgrade this roster. It’s hard to figure where that would come from, but they are overmatched by the better women in MLP.   

9. Dallas Flash – Dallas doesn’t drop below #9 in these rankings because of the trades they have made. If they are running out JW, Augie, Danni and Alix Truong. It’s not a championship team but they should be right there with the Texas, Orlando and Palm Beach’s of the world.

10. Atlanta Bouncers – We would have had the Bouncers at #12 in the power rankings, but shifted them up to the 10 spot after the acquisition of Mari Humberg. She makes their women’s doubles team better as her game should fit well with Jessie Irvine (we’ll see how the personality fit plays out). However, there is a reason Humberg keeps getting shipped around as she finds herself in this Alix Truong territory. Good enough to help a team win, not good enough to help a team win a championship. 

11. Las Vegas Night Owls – This is not where we would slot in the Night Owls purely from a rankings perspective. However, their hot start lands them at #10 in the rankings as other teams have been faltering. Blaine Hovenier is out and Clayton Powell is in, so we’ll see how this team does over a larger sample size. 

12. SoCal Hard Eights – A 4^th place finish in a soft Austin field was a good showing for this up and coming roster. Not having Armaan Bhatia on Super Sunday did not give us the best gauge on where they stack up against a team like the Ranchers. At this point in time, we aren’t seeing enough from Campbell or MacKinnon to make us overly excited, but the women along with a healthy Bhatia make them a formidable team overall.

13. Utah Black Diamonds – Utah has had a disappointing season. Right side Tama feels like putting the young buck in a box and limits the upside of the men’s team, despite some good wins together. The bigger problem is that Tuionetoa is no longer the #1 female she was drafted to be when Texas selected her back in 2024.

14. Chicago Slice – The Slice are building for the future as they bring in Elsie Hendershot and John Lucian Goins. It’s going to be tough for them to be competitive, but we’ll be very interested to see the development of Hendershot. It’s still hard to believe that all 20 teams passed on Hendershot in the draft earlier this year and it must sting a bit for Chicago that they could have drafted Hendershot, but they make amends by paying some cash in the hopes that she is a future star.  Jamie Wei should be a good fit to bring some power next to Hendershot, who is still developing physically. 

15. California Black Bears – Kunimoto and Dennehy have shown some promise for California, but the lack of upside with the choices they have made with their men makes it tough to get excited about too much with this team. 

16. Florida Smash – We posed a question on X after their St. Pete opening match against the Chicago Slice whether the Florida Smash are officially frisky. Smash player, Zoey Weil, responded that they were already frisky, but it felt like this weekend cemented it for a team that most people, including us, thought would be one of the worst teams in the league. Weil and Martina Frantova have been solid, and their men are capable of pushing better teams, especially in mixed. They went 0-4 at their home event, but it was a quality 0-4!

17. Bay Area Breakers – They should be a little better with Blaine Hovenier, but they are so behind the 8 ball from a women’s standpoint. Mya Bui hasn’t gotten much better and Genie Erokhina is limited, despite being capable of holding her own. Not an exciting team to monitor. 

18. Miami Pickleball Club – They have no problem making themselves worse and worse so long as the cash keeps getting piled higher and higher in their owner’s bank account. 

19. Phoenix Flames – It has been a rough go for Phoenix as they should be better than being last in the overall standings. Jonathan Truong and Wyatt Stone are a legitimate starting men’s duo, but the sale of Alix Truong puts this team in a hopeless spot for 2026. 

20. Carolina Hogs – The saddest pro sports franchise in the world.