Well it was an interesting off-season to say the least. As with every season there are new deals and sponsorships, as well as a reshuffling in each team's roster. This season the MLU saw many athletes, Alan Kolick, Markham Shofner, Morgan Hibbert, and Mark Burton departe for each cities respective AUDL team. There were some, Jeff Graham, Josh Markette, and Peter Prial, who also are not playing professionally this season.
However, each year the league faces a similar situation to this. We enter 2016 with the Boston Whitecaps once again as the reigning champions but missing two of the team's cornerstones in Graham and Markette. The Portland Stags and Boston both retained the largest amount of players from last season. The difference is Portland was able to keep their stars.
While they may be the two favorites, every franchise has a lot of questions that need to be answered and some will go far beyond Week 1. Whoever does emerged out of the crowd in 2016, will surely be able to build a stronger franchise in the next two years.
However, each year the league faces a similar situation to this. We enter 2016 with the Boston Whitecaps once again as the reigning champions but missing two of the team's cornerstones in Graham and Markette. The Portland Stags and Boston both retained the largest amount of players from last season. The difference is Portland was able to keep their stars.
While they may be the two favorites, every franchise has a lot of questions that need to be answered and some will go far beyond Week 1. Whoever does emerged out of the crowd in 2016, will surely be able to build a stronger franchise in the next two years.
#1 Portland Stags: 2015: 9-1
1st in West; Western Conference Runner-Up
Portland is only team in the league that lost no major players heading into 2016. This team has proven that they can win in the regular season and dominate, but the postseason is a different story. There will be no doubt that they will be a playoff team this season. Bjorklund and Perston ran the offense like an oiled machine in 2015, there should be no difference this season. Norden returning can make the Stags already stronger offensively who had the fewest turnovers in the league last year. In 2014 Norden had 28 assists and 30 total turnovers. The Breakout Player of the Year, Woodside had an incredible 2015 season on defense. If he can keep up the intensity for the the D-line, it will keep them atop the conference for the third season in a row.
#2 Philadelphia Spinners: 2015: 6-4
2nd in East; Eastern Conference Runner-Up
The Spinners have 16 players returning from 2015, but there will be loss on the field not having Ben Sheradin, Jake Rainwater, and Patrick Diviney. That is losing 51 goals, and 30 assists from three players. Yet, they have the rest of their roster coming back. Hirannet and Trey Katzenbach will continue to see the offense move through their hands. The problem the team has consistently had is their defense, which became the difference in them making the playoffs last year. With the main core of the team returning, the experience will be enough to take over the conference. Philadelphia should be the favorite to win the East. The team has their doubleheader weekend in the first week of the season then it will be smooth sailing the rest of the way.
#3 Boston Whitecaps: 2015: 7-3
1st in East; MLU Champions
The team loses three superstars and gain four more. The Whitecaps will be without Graham, Markette, and Teddy Browar-Jarus in 2016. In this off-season however the team acquired Hooker and Nick Thompson from the Dogfish, Frederick Brasz of the Spinners, and Rob Baker from the Rumble. In total that gives the team 23 out of their 31 roster players who have MLU experience, the most of any team. They are also the reigning champions of the league, meaning they are the favorites until someone else proves to be worthy. They, along with the D.C. Current, have two road doubleheader weekends on the season. Generally, I give the defending champs the benefit of the doubt, but with the loses of their team's identity, it might be too much.
#4 Seattle Rainmakers: 2015: 5-5
2nd in East; Western Conference Champion
Last year the Rainmakers showed the league that Portland was not the only good team in the west. They gave the MLU the biggest playoff upset in the league's three year history. The reason for that was an incredible team effort in the Western Conference Championship. This season that entire team will be returning for Seattle, except for Burton. There is no shying away how much Burton meant to the Rainmakers. In 2015 he won the scoring title with 63 points (34G, 29A). Fortunately, the team Burton leaves behind is growing up. The young, talented team has been raved about for the past couple of seasons, their lack of experience doing them in at big moments. Add some more experience and this team could become extremely dangerous.
#5 Washington D.C. Current: 2015: 5-5
3rd in East
The off-season hurt the Current more than any other team in the league. The squad saw 12 players move to the Breeze and two more, Peter Prial and Calvin Oung take a year off. There still are players on the Current that know how to get the job done with 12 players that have MLU experience and have four more with professional experience. The team should come together nicely near season's end but by then it may be too late. D.C. opens up 2016 with a three game homestand against every team in the East. It will be crucial for the team to have developed chemistry and get a win against Boston or Philadelphia because it will be tough to recover with two home losses this early. It will be about the team getting themselves in a strong position in order to make a run at the end of the season.
#6 San Francisco Dogfish: 2015: 3-7
Tied for 3rd in West
Consistency. This will be the first time in the league's history that the Dogfish will have that from one season to another. Once again the team lost a couple of players but it appears the organization is finally in a strong place. The team has found a star in Saunkeah who helped carry the Dogfish all 2015 season. The team can put it all together, last year San Francisco was the only team to beat Portland in the regular season. If the team can do it consistently will be the bigger question. Traveling out of the bay area is the toughest task for the Dogfish, they have to travel the farthest out of any team in the league. It has hurt them so bad that since their Western Conference Title in 2013 the team has yet to win on the road, 0-10 in the past two seasons.
#7 New York Rumble: 2015: 2-8
4th in East
The Rumble need to create a new identity. This year may be the chance to do so by losing their face in Chris Mazur. The team's best season was in 2013 and that was 3-7, ever since it has been 2-8. Just like the Dogfish, they have also not won away from home in the past two years. Unfortunately they also lose Chris Kocher and John Wodatch, two young future stars that will be hard to replace. The team's offense will be brand new and probably heavily reliant on Hunziker who did not play in 2015. If he can avoid the injury bug, be on the lookout for Mieser. He will certainly be a play-maker for the Rumble on defense and because of the outflow of players, he may be doing double duty. It will be much of the same for the Rumble in 2016, as they have to build the franchise for the future.
#8 Vancouver Nighthawks: 2015: 3-7
Tied for 3rd in West
We have found our clearing house winner going into 2016. The Nighthawks will be completely different, almost unrecognizable this season. The team has lost Hibbert, Brendan Wong, Kirk Savage, Ari Nitikman, the list goes on. Their defense however, will maintain some control out on the field for Vancouver. For years their defense has been the difference in games. Their offense is virtually unknown at this point and no one will know what to expect until their first game. If they were to steal some wins it will be because of their D-line and the fact that they will probably be overlooked. Every week they alternate a home and away game, but look toward the middle stretch of the year where they could steal a game from Seattle or San Francisco.