MLP 2025 Preseason Power Rankings

We have never done any kind of power rankings as NML, but it seems like it would be a missed opportunity not to do something that is a staple across sports media coverage. It may be particularly pertinent to provide periodic power rankings as we gauge how the first attempt at a continuous, 4-month season goes and we see how MLP looks as more of a standalone product. 

Something that we will have to monitor is how MLP plays as a summer product where a good chunk of the events are going to be in very warm weather climates – there will be some indoor venues to negate the heat. It was really hot when we were in DC and Kansas City last year, and it is not ideal to have players out there in 90 to 100 degree heat every day. The fact is that we may be asking fans to sit in brutal heat all day watching these players and that’s really the bigger problem as they are paying to watch a product, not getting paid to play. 

1. Dallas Flash – They are #1 by default as they will be running back their championship squad with JW Johnson, Jorja Johnson, Hurricane Tyra Black and Augie Ge. A big plus for the Flash is that their women both seem to be getting better and are optimized in this partnership with Jorja on the right and Tyra on the left. The x-factor for this is still Augie Ge. Ge’s results have somewhat stagnated this year, including a disappointing Cape Coral result with Black.  Still, having an elite gender and mixed team puts the Flash way ahead of the curve, regardless of how Ge performs. 

2. St. Louis Shock – The Shock are the only other team that is running back its full roster after nabbing Kate Fahey 1^st overall in the offseason auction. There is no weak link in this group, and you could argue that all their players are top half starters in MLP. While Patriquin and Bright do not provide elite level singles play, this is a very strong Dreambreaker team without any holes. 

3. New Jersey 5’s – In spite of our criticism of the 5’s offseason decisions, they come into the season as our #3 team having swapped out Mari Humberg for Meghan Dizon and you could make a case for this team being higher in the power rankings. In theory, Dizon is a better doubles fit for Anna Leigh Waters than Mari Humberg was but you can’t argue with the results that Humberg and ALW had.

There are two big questions for this team: (1) whether this is the year where the game has finally passed by Zane Navratil too much for his intangibles to outweigh his play on the court; (2) whether Meghan Dizon can handle the pressure that comes with being ALW’s partner. It’s worth noting that Dizon is a downgrade from Humberg in Dreambreakers and exposes this team more than last season, if they find themselves playing a comparable number of Dreambreakers to early last season. 

4. Texas Ranchers – The Ranchers have crazy men’s upside as Christian Alshon and Eric Oncins are both players on the rise in different stages of their career. Oncins could provide top half starter in the league performance while Christian Alshon is pushing to be considered the best all around male in pro pickleball. If the Ranchers can stay healthy in 2025, they are in the championship mix as a team without any weak spots in doubles. They are going to win a lot of regular season games, but their season could come down to the need to avoid Dreambreakers come playoff time. 

5. Columbus Sliders – Andrei Daescu’s men’s doubles game has been as good as anyone out there in 2025 and CJ Klinger has proven that he deserves to be considered a top end right-sider in the men’s game. Jansen and Todd are a good women’s doubles team on paper, which should put the Sliders combined gender doubles pairings in the near elite category.

The question this team will likely need to answer is whether they can bring enough in mixed doubles to contend with the best teams in MLP. Andrei Daescu and Parris Todd might only be a good #1 team, not great. CJ Klinger’s mixed game is still a work in progress, and we’ll be curious to see if he and Jansen can gel together. With two high end female singles players, this team should be a strong Dreambreaker team despite having only two competent men’s singles players.  

6. DC Pickleball Team – The doubles conundrum on DC’s hands may end up being how they choose to stack their gender doubles teams. With side out scoring, DC could end up being the team that plays the most straight up pickleball of any team in MLP. However, they will need to figure out in both their gender pairings who plays which side in the biggest moments. The new-old additions of Riley Newman and Jackie Kawamoto play their best pickleball on the left side but it may be best for the team that they each end up on the right. The other matchup question for DC is that they do not have a clear #1 mixed team so they will have to navigate which pairing they feel is their best option against the best pairings in MLP. Which mixed team do they throw out there when they need a win?  

7.  LA Mad Drops – The Mad Drops theoretically bring big time upside with two men who can bring the heat in mixed along with two of the steadiest female players on tour. The biggest concern for the Mad Drops is probably their gender pairs and whether they are going to have enough juice to consistently push the top teams. Quang Duong’s 2025 results, especially in men’s, have been largely disappointing and Hunter Johnson is still a higher variance player despite continued improvement in his doubles game. Parenteau and Kawamoto are very steady, but their lack of power could prove to be problematic when it comes to beating the best teams on a regular basis. 

8. Chicago Slice – The Slice put together a team that will almost certainly make it into a play-in match. However, without some things going their way, it is hard to see how they are going to make a push to be a top 6 team. James Ignatowich has been playing better as of late but his men’s game remains more untapped than realized potential. Vivienne David and Callie Smith will bring solid but not an elite level of play. The real success of this team may fall onto the shoulders of the relatively inexperienced Max Freeman, who many people remain quite high on even though the early 2025 results have been underwhelming so far. 

9. Orlando Squeeze – As things stand right now, there is a clear drop-off after the top 8 teams. 75% of Orlando’s roster is strong but they are likely going to get what they paid for with their #2 female. The single elimination format at PPA’s makes development difficult for new players and we haven’t seen any big progression from Samantha Parker that could transform Orlando into a contender. Lacy Schneemann’s results have also somewhat levelled out after a hot start to 2025, and we still don’t know if Federico Staksrud will bring the same level of intensity to MLP that he brings to every PPA event, particularly if the Squeeze don’t get off to a good start. 

10. Phoenix Flames – 10 in the power rankings could be overly aggressive for the Flames, but they are one of the few bottom half teams capable of knocking off some of the top half teams on the right day. Tyson McGuffin and Jessie Irvine are going to bring a solid level of play to the table. Jack Sock appears to be working harder in 2025 but the results haven’t really come in doubles nor does the eye test look super promising for that part of his development. In spite of his deficiencies, Sock can go through stretches where he plays like a top-half Premier starter.

The biggest concern for this team is that Genie Bouchard appears to have stopped working on her game. She’s made huge strides in the past year but the lack of results in both singles and doubles in 2025 is not encouraging. This will be the #1 team to watch in terms of team dynamics as the eclectic roster along with their former NFL player head coach, Brant Weiss. It could get wild. 

11. Carolina Hogs – As depressing as Carolina was in 2024, they went into their last event of 2024 with a very outside shot at the playoffs. Although the addition of Tammy Emmrich was not inspiring, she is currently (key word is currently) better than the #2 female on every other bottom half team in our power rankings. Carolina has the best player in the world and 2.5 Premier level starters – Collin Johns counts as one-half because his mixed doubles play is not Premier starter level for a male. Even with mopey Ben guaranteed to show up for a good chunk of 2025, you have to think that Ben can sleepwalk Carolina to some wins. Oink oink?

12. Utah Black Diamonds – Just when we were ready to give some credit to Connor Pardoe, he went out and messed it up. The 2025 trajectory for this team probably did not change all that much with their trade of Alix Truong for Allyce Jones. Allyce Jones has been playing well and the current play on the court is pretty close between the two of them. But it’s unclear from a competitive standpoint why Utah would give up Truong for Jones without any cash as part of the mix. There may be other things at play here that we are not privy to as that has been a trend with MLP trades and Jimmy Miller, who is close with Pardoe, vaguely alluded to a trade request from Truong at one point.

However, Truong is a no cash asset who keeps getting better. Utah now rolls out Allyce Jones along with Mehvish Safdar or Genie Erokhina. We have not bought any real estate on Mehvish Safdar island and Genie Erokhina was only a fine Challenger player in 2024. Still, Utah gets the #12 ranking because their team is going to fight hard with 3 capable Premier starter level players. However, this roster as currently constructed is the Great Value Orlando Squeeze. 

13. Atlanta Bouncers – We could be too low on the Bouncers, who feature two borderline top half Premier level starters in Jaume Martinez Vich and Vivian Glozman. The trouble with the Bouncers is that they have Todd Fought, who is kind of like the male Tammy Emmrich of Premier, and Victoria DiMuzio as their other two starters. We have not purchased any real estate on Victoria DiMuzio island either based on everything we have seen. With two starters who are not currently MLP Premier starter quality, it’s going to be tough to find two wins in a given match to even get to a Dreambreaker. 

14. Miami Pickleball Club – Miami should be somewhat competitive early in the season, but wins will be hard to come by. Their men are going to keep them competitive as we have seen the French connection, Noe Khlif and Jay Devlliers, partner up on the PPA to some decent results. Milan Rane is a capable Premier level starter in 2025, but the trajectory of this team will depend on whether Mya Bui is the “good pick” that Miami hopes she can be. If Bui doesn’t improve fast, it could be a long year for Miami. 

15. NY Hustlers – Zane Ford has been out on the PPA Tour making a name for himself in 2025. We’re very intrigued by Ford as he brings a unique, Quang Duong style of aggression to the court. What we have wondered is if Ford is a guy who will level out after players see his game more or if he can push his game into the upper echelon of pickleball? Regardless of how things turn out, Ford has been a good upside selection.

The rest of the Hustlers roster looks pretty damn grim. Donald Young’s power should pair well with Ford in men’s doubles to sneak out some wins but Young has been sub-par in 2025. If the Hustlers men don’t win, it’s basically impossible to see how the Hustlers can find two wins anywhere else on their roster. Their women could end up being comically bad in gender doubles against most MLP teams and they will need their men to go kamikaze mode for some crash and bash success in mixed. 

16. SoCal Hard Eights – We toyed with putting the Hustlers in this final spot, but Zane Ford kept them at #15. The hypothetical oddsmakers likely favor the Hard Eights over the Hustlers if they played one another today because they have 4 capable doubles players whereas the Hustlers have maybe 2.5. On the other hand, there is not one player that brings hope to this team in the same way that Zane Ford does for the Hustlers. Ryan Fu has some upside and has been seeing some better results recently, but Ivan Jakovljevic looks like a JAG. We don’t see it with Blaine Hovenier. Irina has mailed in her career. And Judit Castillo is not improving as a doubles player. The Hard Eights were a dominant Challenger team in 2023 and we’re quite confident this 2025 Premier team would lose if they went back in time to play the 2023 Challenger version of the Hard Eights. 

Challenger Quick Hit Power Rankings 

1, Las Vegas Night Owls – The Night Owls have a tenuous hold on the 1^st spot in the pre-season power rankings. They are #1 because they are the only team with three Premier level starters in Pablo Tellez, Chao Yi Wang and Brooke Buckner. The hold is tenuous because James Delgado is a completely unknown quantity. Delgado had one good little run with Zane Ford and the results have looked fine overall, but he’s going to see a ton of balls go his way. 

2. Brooklyn Aces – Brooklyn should have the best chance to unseat the Night Owls for the #1 Challenger spot because they have two Premier level women – Mari Humberg and Andrea Koop. Stefan Auvergne and Daniel De La Rosa is not an inspiring 2025 men’s duo, but they have a lot of MLP experience between the two of them. 

3. California Black Bears – The Black Bears have three players who are undoubtedly capable of playing at a 2024 Challenger level. The Black Bears traded for Juan Benitez, who has seen some frisky results recently. Competent pickleball play will be crucial in Challenger for 2025 and the Black Bears should have a solid team across the board. 

4. Nashville Chefs – The newly minted Chefs will not be an easy matchup for any of their Challenger opponents. There’s nothing fancy about this team, and they should make teams work against them. But it is hard to see any upside with this roster. 

5. Bay Area Breakers – Eric Roddy, DJ Young, Alix Truong and Danna Funaro. What a weird team. If Funaro is any good, this team can compete with the best teams in Challenger on the right day. The problem is that you also have the enigma of all enigmas, DJ Young. We’re well past the point of DJ Young being two years away from being two years away.  

6. Florida Smash – We toyed with having the Smash as high as #4, but then remembered that they have Sarah Ansboury on their team in 2025. It sounds like the Smash wanted an all-Florida based roster., which explains the Ansboury pick. To be fair, it’s been a long time since we have watched Sarah Ansboury play pickleball. She is one of the most veteran of ball-makers left, but can she move? 

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