The 2026 MLP season begins May 22 in Dallas, but well before then, teams will be jockeying for position, dropping players, adding players, making trades, and otherwise redoing their rosters. Some will do minor tweaks, just dropping a single player and then picking that player right back up (as Dallas and St. Louis did last year), while others will drop their whole roster (as New York and Chicago did last year).

 

The first date of importance has already passed, with teams able to make trades beginning January 28. That trade deadline will remain open until February 15. Also on February 15, all teams must declare which players they are keeping and, by extension, which players they are dropping. The process will be lively, with some teams doing what we expect, while others pull surprises.

 

Here are five things to look for between now and February 15.

 

 

Several teams will almost certainly act in predictable fashion, and those are the teams at the top. For example, St. Louis must drop one of Anna Bright, Hayden Patriquin, or Gabe Tardio (and keep Kate Fahey). Expect St. Louis to drop Tardio, and then immediately at the February 27 draft, seek to pick him back up. Similarly, Dallas has to keep Augie Ge, and drop one of Jorja Johnson, JW Johnson, or Tyra Black. Expect them to try to redraft whoever they drop.

 

But the fun will be seeing one or more teams act in an unexpected fashion. Teams have to pay 50% of the original draft/auction price to keep a player. Some teams may not want to spend money on keepers and thus will drop everyone or drop good, but high-priced players. Last year, we saw quality players like Riley Newman and Lea Jansen dropped, not because they played poorly, but simply because their teams did not want to play to keep them. Similarly, we saw some teams drop their entire roster and then go into the draft/auction looking to restock. The restocking can be done cheaply (see New York) or more expensively (see Chicago). Either way, expect to see more teams follow that strategy and drop players unexpectedly. I would not be surprised to see five or more teams drop their entire roster.

 

 

 

One of the biggest stories of the 2025 MLP year was Dallas making the very poor choice in the playoffs to face Columbus instead of Texas. Columbus, of course, not only beat Dallas, but went on to win the championship. Stating that Dallas made a bad choice is not second guessing. Many of us stated before Dallas played Columbus that Dallas had made the wrong choice, as proved to be true.

 

Dallas faces another tough choice this year. They must drop Jorja Johnson, JW Johnson, or Tyra Black. They will undoubtedly keep Jorja Johnson, as she is one of the most valuable players in all of MLP. So, the choice comes down to JW Johnson or Tyra Black. The choice is very clear: Black should be kept and JW Johnson dropped. But, I expect Dallas to make an error and keep Johnson and drop Black.

 

Why keep Black over JW Johnson? Several reasons. First, and most importantly, top-level women are more valuable in MLP than top-level men. In the 2025 draft/auction, there were many very good men available, such as Riley Newman, James Ignatowich, Augie Ge, and Quang  Duong. But there were very few solid women available, and those that were (Lea Jansen and Kate Fahey) went quickly and for high prices. Second, JW Johnson costs more than Black to retain, so by retaining Black, Dallas saves money, which can then be used to re-pick Johnson. Third, there will be options available to JW Johnson, should Dallas not re-pick him in the draft/auction. As previously mentioned, Gabe Tardio is virtually certain to be available. If Dallas drops Johnson, but picks up Tardio, they do not lose a beat. But barring a huge surprise, no woman anywhere close to Black’s talent will be available in the draft/auction. If Dallas drops Black, at least one other team should bid very, very high to try to get her, as she would be a cornerstone for a playoff team to build around.

 

 

 

One big story from early 2026 PPA events is the emergence of a lot of new players, especially up-and-coming teenagers. Players such as Will MacKinnon, Andre Mercado, Cam Chaffin, Tama Shimabukuro, Kiora Kunimoto, Elsie Hendershot, and Jalina Ingram are still teenagers, but are all showing a lot of talent and potential. Any players drafted in 2026 are eligible to be kept for up to three years. I expect one (or more) teams to drop everyone on their roster and then target the teenagers. At least one team will try to corner the market, picking all youngsters and hoping to hit the next Hayden Patriquin or Jorja Johnson. These players will likely be relatively inexpensive to draft, would be fun to watch, and would have a ton of potential to improve down the road.

 

 

 

One new rule for 2026 is to allow bench players (the fifth and sixth players on your roster) to play in a match in just one game without being forced to play in all the matches (including Dreambreakers). In other words, a team could draft a singles specialist and just play them in Dreambreakers, or draft a player who is really good at mixed doubles, but play someone different in gender doubles.

 

This new rule creates new strategies, especially for top teams. Let’s use Columbus as an example. If Columbus ends up with the same starting four, they could look to draft a player like Chris Haworth, and use him only in Dreambreakers as a singles substitute for Andrei Daescu. Another example would be to draft a player like Yuta Funemizu, who is an excellent right side men’s doubles player, but then use a different player for mixed doubles.

 

I expect several of the top teams to pare their rosters down to just three players, so they have maximum flexibility in the auction to both solidify their starting four, but also to look for opportunities to insert specialists in the five and six spots.

 

 

 

There are different levels of keeper based upon when the player was drafted. For example, Anna Bright was taken in the original draft, so she is in a different keeper bucket than her teammate Kate Fahey, who was drafted last year. There are players who have been on their current team for one year, or two years, or three years. Teams could solve their keeper dilemmas through trades. For example, if your team has three players who have been on the team from the original draft (and thus you have to drop one), you could trade one to another team for a player that was acquired one or two years ago. The team could then keep both of the remaining three year players and keep the newly-acquired player. It is the reason New Jersey can keep Anna Leigh Waters, Will Howells, and Noe Khlif.

 

I think we may well see a flurry of trades in the next two weeks, whether it is done to better a team’s keeper strategy or simply to dump salary to make the auction less expensive.

 

MLP matches are exciting, but the offseason roster maneuvering is exciting too, and sets the tone for how a team will likely compete over the course of 2026. Expect the unexpected!

 

Follow me on X @pickleball_jim.