Major League Pickleball 2026 preseason power rankings: New Jersey, St. Louis are the teams to beat
Happy Major League Pickleball opening week, to those who celebrate.
With the 2025-26 PPA Tour season in the rear-view mirror, the pro pickleball calendar now moves into the MLP summer season, with plenty of storylines attached to the return of team pickleball.
The season-opening event begins Friday at the Pickler Universe in the Dallas suburb of Carrollton, Texas. Find our full MLP Dallas preview here — including the match schedule, pool play info and TV information.
Looking to attend MLP Dallas? Get tickets here.
Major League Pickleball season format
One of the complaints from fans last year was that it was hard to identify an “event winner” for each stop on the MLP schedule given that each event was just a collection of regular-season matches.
The league has since made some changes to try to make each individual event carry more weight. Here’s how the 2026 MLP season will work:
▪️All 20 teams participating in 2026 will play at one level (no more Premier and Challenger designations).
▪️All teams will participate in a collection of five of the nine regular-season events. (full schedule below)
▪️All events will have 11 participating teams with the exception of Orlando, which will have 12 teams.
▪️There will be one group of 5 and one group of 6 at each event; Orlando will have two groups of 6.
▪️All teams will play a total of 23 group play matches during the season (2x in a group of five; 3x in a group of six).
▪️Group play results will determine seeds based on Total Wins, with Head-to-Head and Net Games as tiebreakers.
▪️On the event’s final day, a team will play the same seed from the other group for Event Standings Points (No. 1 from Pool A vs. No. 1 from Pool B, etc.)
▪️Event Standings Points: 1st: 25 / 2nd: 18 / 3rd: 15 / 4th: 12 / 5th: 10 / 6th: 8 / 7th: 6 / 8th: 4 / 9th & 10th: 1 / 11th: 0
▪️Expanded Playoffs: Three weeks and 12 qualifying teams, based on total Event Standings Points earned
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2026 Major League Pickleball Schedule
Major League Pickleball 2026 preseason power rankings
With the logistics out of the way, let’s take a look at how the teams stack up heading into the season. The MLP draft this spring saw some surprising selections and several new names that will be looking to prove themselves early in the season. There also have been several trades since the draft that have reshaped a few rosters.
I have based my initial power rankings on how I think each team will use their rosters — new this year, all six players on a team can be used in a match in whatever configuration a team wants. That means we could see some players only play gender doubles or mixed doubles, and several teams have “singles specialists” that will be used if a match goes to a Dreambreaker.
The power rankings will be updated after each event, so stay tuned for future changes as we see these new rosters in action.
1. New Jersey 5s
Likely doubles starters: Will Howells, Noe Khlif, Anna Leigh Waters, Jorja Johnson.
Bench players: Martin Emmrich, Lina Padegimaite.
They have had runner-up finishes the past two seasons (losing to the Dallas Flash in the finals in 2024 and falling to the Columbus Sliders in 2025), so the core of Anna Leigh Waters and Will Howells have consistently kept this team in the mix come playoff time. At the trade deadline last year, they acquired Noe Khlif, who has been a Top 15 player on the men’s side over the past year and is an upgrade over Zane Navratil (at least the current version of Zane Navratil). Then this spring they picked up Top 5 women’s player Jorja Johnson in the draft. I see no holes in this team — both gender doubles pairings and both mixed doubles pairings will be favored against most opponents, and they also have one of the best Dreambreaker lineups. They are my pick to win the title this season.
2. St. Louis Shock
Likely doubles starters: Hayden Patriquin, Gabe Tardio, Anna Bright, Kate Fahey.
Bench players: John Lucian Goins, Elsie Hendershot.
They are running it back with the same starting four they’ve had the past two seasons. Both years they’ve been one of the best regular-season teams but have been beaten in the semifinals in the playoffs twice. They have without a doubt the best men’s doubles team in the league in Patriquin/Tardio (they went 39-4 last season) and also the best mixed doubles team in Patriquin/Bright. I fully expect them to be a Top 2 team throughout the regular season, and we’ll see if they can get over the hump in the playoffs.
3. Los Angeles Mad Drops
Likely doubles starters: Ben Johns, Max Freeman, Catherine Parenteau, Jade Kawamoto.
Bench players: Gabriel Joseph, Genie Bouchard.
On paper I think this team can compete with New Jersey and St. Louis. The question (as it always seems to be) is which Ben Johns will show up in MLP? It’s been clear to anybody paying attention the past two seasons that he’s generally not as locked in for MLP like he is for PPA Tour events. I think a big part of that was because his previous team — Carolina — didn’t do a great job of surrounding him with strong players. That problem doesn’t exist with this roster. Johns and Freeman were actually supposed to play a PPA Tour event together in early 2025, but it didn’t work out because Freeman’s contract with the UPA was in flux at the time. So I think this is a men’s partner Johns will like playing with, and Parenteau/Kawamoto were a Top 5 women’s team during the regular season last year. They also should be one of the top Dreambreaker teams in the league with Joseph and Bouchard coming off the bench.
4. Brooklyn Pickleball Team
Likely doubles starters: Christian Alshon, Riley Newman, Jackie Kawamoto, Rachel Rohrabacher.
Bench players: Chris Haworth, Hannah Blatt.
Alshon, Newman and Kawamoto have been reunited from their days playing together with the D.C. Pickleball Team, which won one of the six standalone MLP events in 2023 (Jade Kawamoto was the other player on that team). Jackie Kawamoto/Rachel Rohrabacher went 19-6 in women’s doubles in the 2025 regular season, and Alshon is currently a Top 5 player in men’s doubles, mixed doubles and singles on the PPA Tour. They will be favored to win against most teams, but I don’t know if they have the extra gear it will take to beat New Jersey or St. Louis.
5. Columbus Sliders
Likely doubles starters: Andrei Daescu, CJ Klinger, Parris Todd, Danni-Elle Townsend.
Bench players: Alexander Crum, Alix Truong.
They are the defending champs, so having them this low might be seen as a slight. BUT if the Sliders were a stock, I’d be selling at this point. They finished the 2025 regular season in a tie for 5th in the standings, and it took a Herculean effort by Daescu in the playoffs for them to pull off back-to-back-to-back upsets over Dallas, St. Louis and New Jersey to win the championship. I’m just not sure I see another run like that happening for this team, and I’m also in wait-and-see mode on Townsend, whose next MLP match will be her first. It’s also worth noting that Todd will be suspended for the team’s first event, which is a big loss considering one event makes up 20% of a team’s season.
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6. Texas Ranchers
Likely doubles starters: Eric Oncins, Dylan Frazier, Lea Jansen, Layne Sleeth.
Bench players: Matthew Barlow, Ava Cavataio.
I feel similarly about the Ranchers as I do about Brooklyn. They are a very solid team and they will win a lot of matches this year. But can they beat New Jersey, St. Louis or LA? I’m not convinced of that — particularly when it comes to New Jersey and St. Louis. Sleeth is coming off of a hip injury that she had surgery for this winter, and she has only played in a couple PPA Tour events in 2026, so their women’s team is a question mark heading into the season. They also have a decision to make as far as their Dreambreaker lineup is concerned — Matthew Barlow has made deep runs in singles in multiple PPA Tour events this year, but Oncins and Frazier are also good singles players, and they have more experience in MLP.
7. Dallas Flash
Likely doubles starters: JW Johnson, Augie Ge, Tyra Black, Brooke Buckner.
Bench players: Ivan Jakovljevic, Albie Huang.
It’s really hard to imagine the Flash being anywhere close to as good as they were in 2025 after losing Jorja Johnson in the offseason.
8. Orlando Squeeze
Likely doubles starters: Federico Staksrud, Jack Sock, Lacy Schneemann, Milan Rane.
Bench players: Yates Johnson, Alex Walker.
Orlando is in a very similar position to where the team was last season. The Squeeze finished in a tie for 7th and were beaten in the quarterfinals of the playoffs in 2025. I do think picking up Jack Sock in the draft this spring was a good move, as he has put together some solid doubles results on the PPA Tour lately, but I think they will ultimately end up being a middle-of-the pack team again this year. Their best hope is to push their matches against the top teams to a Dreambreaker and rely on Staksrud/Sock to carry them in singles.
9. Utah Black Diamonds
Likely doubles starters: Connor Garnett, Tama Shimabukuro, Allyce Jones, Etta Tuionetoa.
Bench players: Tyler Loong, Victoria DiMuzio.
When they selected the 15-year-old Shimabukuro with the No. 9 pick in the draft this spring, I thought that was a bit of a reach given that he hadn’t had very strong doubles results at that point. He’s since burst onto the scene on the PPA Tour, making the finals in men’s singles and semifinals in men’s doubles at the Atlanta Pickleball Championships, and then winning men’s doubles at the 500-point event that was held the same weekend as the PPA Tour Finals. He also just won gold in mixed with Alix Truong at the PPA Asia Kuala Lumpur 500. All of that is to say: I no longer have my concerns with that pick. It will be interesting to see who plays the left between Garnett (who has also been playing great lately) and Shimabukuro in men’s doubles, or if they will play Loong at all — he’s still a solid player and could definitely be a doubles starter on some rosters.
10. Palm Beach Royals
Likely doubles starters: Dekel Bar, Tyson McGuffin, Tina Pisnik, Sofia Sewing.
Bench players: Grayson Goldin, Tamaryn Emmrich.
The expansion franchise has put together a solid roster on paper in their first season, but I don’t think this team can hang with the top dogs in the league. Bar and McGuffin both missed making the PPA Tour Finals this year after being comfortably in the Top 16 in men’s doubles in prior years, and Sewing is making the jump from the APP Tour to MLP, where the competition is much stiffer.
11. Atlanta Bouncers
Likely doubles starters: Jay Devilliers, Jaume Martinez Vich, Jessie Irvine, Kaitlyn Christian.
Bench players: Donald Young, Keilly Ulery.
I thought long and hard about putting Atlanta as high as No. 9, because I think their men’s pair can be a Top 6-8 duo in the league, but I don’t know if their women can be a Top 10 duo. Irvine/Christian played in six PPA Tour events together this spring, and only made it past the Round of 16 in two of those events.
12. Las Vegas Night Owls
Likely doubles starters: Blaine Hovenier, Roscoe Bellamy, Callie Smith, Chao Yi Wang.
Bench players: Braden Jacobson, Liz Truluck.
Bellamy is coming off of a finals appearance in men’s doubles at the Atlanta Pickleball Championships, and Smith/Wang are both consistent Quarterfinal/Round of 16 players on the women’s side. I’m just not sure how high this team’s ceiling is — I think Vegas and the next three teams on this list will be battling for the final playoff spot.
13. SoCal Hard Eights
Likely doubles starters: Armaan Bhatia, Will MacKinnon, Meghan Dizon, Cailyn Campbell.
Bench players: Rafael Lenhard, Naomi Nguyen.
Bhatia has made the quarterfinals in his last two PPA Tour events, and Dizon also put up strong results in women’s doubles this spring, including a bronze with Lacy Schneemann at the Indoor National Championships in Minnesota. I think they’re a fringe playoff team this year, but if the 17-year-old MacKinnon and 15-year-old Campbell continue to improve, they could be a really solid team next year and beyond.
14. Chicago Slice
Likely doubles starters: Hunter Johnson, Zane Navratil, Mari Humberg, Jalina Ingram.
Bench players: Tom Protzek, Ting Chieh Wei.
Humberg is the only player on this team who is inside the Top 15 in any doubles division on the PPA Tour. Johnson and Navratil are both outside the Top 25 in men’s doubles, and Ingram is ranked in the 40s in both women’s doubles and mixed doubles. Best case scenario for this team seems like a No. 12 seed in the playoffs.
15. Phoenix Flames
Likely doubles starters: Jonathan Truong, Wyatt Stone, Judit Castillo, Daria Walczak.
Bench players: Camden Chaffin, Alexa Schull.
I keep thinking back to a match on Feb. 19 at the PPA Tour Mesa Cup when I think about this team: Ben Johns/Gabe Tardio def. Jonathan Truong/Wyatt Stone 12-10, 11-9. If that version of Truong/Stone can show up consistently, they can be a very competitive men’s team. Castillo and Walczak are also underrated on the women’s side, and they will be a tough Dreambreaker team with Chaffin coming off the bench.
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16. Miami Pickleball Club
Likely doubles starters: Nicolas Acevedo, Yuta Funemizu, Isabella Dunlap, Estee Widdershoven
Bench players: Clayton Powell, Aiko Yoshitomi
Acevedo is an MLP newcomer, but is coming off of a Round of 16 appearance in men’s doubles at the Atlanta Pickleball Championships and also earned silver at the 500-point event held alongside the MLP Finals earlier this month (he played with Powell in that event). Funemizu has become a strong right-side player in men’s doubles, but his mixed doubles results still aren’t very good. And their women’s duo is a big question mark.
17. Bay Area Breakers
Likely doubles starters: Len Yang, Pablo Tellez, Genie Erokhina, Mya Bui.
Bench players: Luc Pham, Ella Yeh.
I actually think the Yang/Tellez duo can do some damage in men’s, but Erokhina and Bui are both outside the Top 25 in women’s doubles on the PPA Tour.
18. California Black Bears
Likely doubles starters: Michael Loyd, Anouar Braham, Sahra Dennehy, Kiora Kunimoto
Bench players: Luca Mack, Emma Nelson
I’ll be interested to see what this team does from a lineup perspective. There’s not a very big gap between their projected starters and the bench players. Either way, I don’t see this team being much of a threat this season.
19. Carolina Hogs
Likely doubles starters: DJ Young, Brandon French, Samantha Parker, Allison Phillips.
Bench players: Connor Mogle, Abbigal Hatton.
This team wasn’t very good when they had Ben Johns on the roster, and now they don’t have Ben Johns.
20. Florida Smash
Likely doubles starters: Travis Rettenmaier, Cason Campbell, Martina Frantova, Paula Rives.
Bench players: Christopher Couch, Zoey Weil.
Florida kept the same roster from a team that finished last in the Challenger Division in 2025. It’s going to be a tough road for this team.
