That midnight third jersey is sexy!

I really like the update for Orlando. The new blue is a great adjustment.

Before I get to the roster update or the regular season, I wanted to show off that new set of sigs I was talking about. I tried something a little, shall we say, outside the box. Hope you enjoy!

Good work as always IDM! Glad you got me that Comets sig! 

Happy New Year, y'all! As Steel requested (and largely inspired), I wanted to give a bit of a roster update as we head into 2030. A couple notes before we get started: first, I didn't want to throw a full 12-man starting roster at you for all 16 teams, so I settled on 6 per team, and I tried to fill in any major gaps in the accompanying writeups. Second, the players on each team are in different uniforms based on which squad they're on: O-squad players (who start the game on offense) are in their team's primary uniform, while D-squad players (who start the game not on offense) are in their team's secondary uniform (except for Texas, since their primary and secondary uniforms look just about the same from behind). Third, this is gonna be a fairly lengthy post, so feel free to skim or even skip this, but I hope you enjoy if you do read all the way through. Have fun!



Boston Commodores
Boston is a bit of an enigma. For one thing, they’re a bit older than you’d expect for a team entering their third year in the league; List, Bowman, and Watson are 32, and Will Mitchell, who they signed in 2028 with the hope of about a year of veteran leadership, has exceeded expectations for the last two years but is now 40. For another, they have three very good B/ZBs in List, Mitchell, and Overton, but their depth at the most common position pairing is almost laughably bad, and they’re one of just three teams expected to start a rookie (B/ZB Isaac Stutz Jr.) on opening day. That said, the ‘Dores have done well at sticking to their script, rolling with a two F/C, two W/K lineup, which they’ve had since day one.

DC Statesmen
In contrast to the Commodores, the Statesmen have a fair amount of young stars, with the 26-year-old Keller and 25-year-old Abdel leading the way. Last year’s plan of giving first overall pick W/C Matt LeBas the starting role worked out well, and at just 23, he should have a great future in front of him. Sora Matsuѕhita is still hanging around as the team’s #1 center, ahead of LeBas, and B/ZB Ax Nilsen and B/K Clyde Edwards are also getting starts, despite both being somewhat past their prime. That said, a lot of this credit goes to management, with longtime Sea Lions GM James Canfield and former Chicago coach Dane Gaddy leading this team to a fair amount of success in its inaugural year.

New York Chargers
Brandon Walter is the unequivocal leader of the Chargers, with a big personality fitting for the Big Apple. GM Julius Moore has built him a solid starting cast in the past few years too, adding Effendi, Pair, Perez, and F/ZB Marcos Campos to secure the center and keeper positions and take some defensive pressure off of zone backs Walter, Jorgensen and Hardin. Many of these guys will be around for several years, too; Walter has 5 years left on his contract, and Hardin, Pair, and Perez all re-signed this offseason. If Philly wasn’t in their way, they’d probably be NDLCS contenders, but alas:

Philadelphia Row
Philly has a stacked roster, led by the trio of Ray Thomas, “Snowy” Snowberger, and Zeb Perilla. There’s still no Fourth Oarsman of the Apocalypse, but there’s a good amount of competition for it, with Davis and Gray being the most likely candidates, but Ochoa, W/ZB Ellis Alcala, and B/ZB Keith Grice all having strong cases as well. The one thing detractors might say about the Row is that they’re very old; Thomas is 37, Snowberger, Perilla, and Gray are all 34, and in fact, Ochoa (27) and B/C Evan Simon (22) are their only starters under the age of 31. Still, they’re the championship favorites again this year, and it’s hard not to see them adding at least another First Trophy or two to their trophy case before their time runs out.



Chicago Frost
Chicago is another team with a shot at a championship this year, and that’s largely thanks to Tony Bennett, who swept all three awards last year and might just do that again this year. Of course, one B/ZB does not a contender make, but luckily, the Frost have talent at every position, even just in this top 6. Beyond that, too, they have another great forward and even better zone back in Rook McMillian and another elite offensive wing in W/ZB Jim Choate. Age is a bit of a concern with Chicago as well, with Boyer already 37 and Rashke celebrating his own 37th birthday in just a few days, but most of the rest of their starters are still younger than Bennett, who’s 33.

Minnesota Lights
Minnesota was by far the hardest team to pick a top 6 for. Goldstein is unambiguously their best player (although at 35, they’re not expecting him to be for very long), and Brother, Struve, and Simmons are considered a bit of a step above the rest of their lineup, but narrowing it down to just two of their next six was a challenge. I ultimately went with Miller and Kirkpatrick mostly because they’re bigger names, but B/C duo Drew Roebke and Russell Collins might even be better than both of them, and both (especially Roebke, who’s only 24) are projected much higher over the next few years. Don’t sleep on 24-year-old W/ZB Isiah DeJesus or 25-year-old W/K Richard Singh, either. Ultimately, the Lights have built themselves a lineup that is dangerous from just about everywhere, and they should be able to keep building on that for years to come.

Montréal Magma
Like their expansion cousins down in Boston, Montréal hasn’t gotten off to quite the start they would’ve hoped. Herman and Larson are their biggest stars and Grace and Baker have the keeper position locked down, but they haven’t been able to build around youth the way the class of ‘29 has. It’s still there, with Grace and DeLuca both being 27 and a fair amount of young depth players as well, but both Herman and Larson, as well as Justin Smith and F/C Billy Moses, are 32. The Magma’s future will probably depend on how guys like W/ZBs Jhaton Williams and Aidan Kersey, plus third overall pick B/ZB Sean Sweetser, develop.

Toronto Hogs
The Hogs have a very good defense, with Torres and Combs locking down one of the league’s best center corps, if not its best, and Dal replacing W/K Rufo Torrez to join Alvarez in a very solid W/K duo. The offense is a little bit behind, especially as you move forward, but as 24-year-old F/ZB Jared Gillette matures, that should change. The big trouble with the league’s elder Canadian team is that half of their starting lineup will be free agents after this season, including Torres, Richards, Alvarez, B/ZB Taylor Battaglia, and W/ZB Kanoa Pacheco. Still, they should be a shoo-in for the playoffs this season, and if they can prevent other teams from looting their roster, they’ll be in a good position for the next few years.



Atlanta Records
After missing the playoffs for the first time in 2029, the Records seemed to finally realize that they should be trying to get younger. They traded out 32-year-old B/ZB Gofreddo Bucci and 38-year-old W/ZB Dwight McCann, getting back 30-year-old Ben Elkins and 23-year-old W/ZB Beau Ferland. Their two B/Ks, Seth Shelton and Jerimiah Lueken, are also young and promising. That said, the real talent on this team is still mostly with Tim Morris and Fabiano Cordova, with Elkins forming somewhat of a big three. Atlanta should be able to return to the playoffs this year, even out of a South Division that projects to be the tightest of the four by far.

Miami Palms
The Palms are currently in a tough spot. Coach John Fuller is on the hot seat after sloppy play and a few injuries derailed them last year, and every player on the graphic but Gilley is over 32 years old. Gerald Hartline is still one of the best in the game, and Mack Lauder is one of the best F/ZBs out there, but Drain and Locke are simply not the players they used to be, and if the team can’t turn it around and make a run this year, it might be time to blow it all up. They do have a handful of young players, headlined by W/ZB Donovan Rascoe who just missed out on a spot on this list, but it might be a tough road ahead for a franchise that has already had its fair share of tough years.

Nashville Fugitives
Any team that has both Michel Blanchard and Will Orleans is automatically a contender, and adding Rufo Torrez in the offseason should only help them, but it’s honestly beginning to feel like the Fugues have missed their window. Blanchard and Orleans will both be 35 by the end of the month, and Torrez will be 33 by the time the season concludes. They’ve only got two more years before Blanchard’s contract (as well as those of Barrack and fellow B/ZB Yash Savarn) is up, and he’s already proven he’s willing to jump ship if the opportunities aren’t arising. Regardless, Ugalde and McDonald especially are great players behind the top three, and Nashville still projects to be a competitor this year, but they’ll have to get through a lot of tough competition.

Orlando Orbits
Like a few teams, the Orbs have a big star in Frank St. Peter and then a lot of very good talent behind him. Yusufi was the big offseason pickup, but Mill and Milling are equally solid options that the team also re-signed this year. St. Peter and Mill are locked up for the next decade, too, so there are a lot of reasons to feel good about this team’s future as well as their present. They’re a bit lacking in wing talent, although W/ZB Dhakiy Akbar is a solid player on the rise, and W/ZB René Siemann is a great offensive option even if he’s a little bit weak on defense. All in all, there’s a lot to like in Orlando.



California Sea Lions
The once-mighty Sea Lions have fallen hard recently, but they’re working their way back up. Zorrilla is 27 and has emerged into a starring role in the last few seasons. Basch, meanwhile, is only 24, but the Lions liked what they saw so much that they traded away F/ZB Eddie McDonald mid-season to give him the starting role permanently. They’ve also got a couple of up-and-coming 26-year-olds in B/ZB Connor Mason and W/ZB Danny Noblitt starting among older names like Parron, Sanderson, Moth, and Calkins. California certainly still has their work cut out for them if they want to get back to the top, but they’re heading in the right direction.

Los Angeles Sabertooths
Speaking of heading in the right direction, the Tooths’ long rebuild finally looks like it’s starting to pay off. Gray, Johnson, and Lalanne are the three main pieces of the team, and Johnson is the only starter and one of only two players on the roster who’s over 30. Younger players are featured throughout, like W/K Nic Star (26), Ty McAllister (25), Cameron Boggs and W/K Reggie Daniel (both 24), and of course, first overall pick B/ZB Christopher Strine, all of whom will be starting on opening night. They’re certainly not the strongest team in the league, but at least LA won’t be completely miserable like they have been for several years running.

Seattle Sawyers
Seattle is riding a 9-season postseason streak, second only to the Redbacks’ 10, but unlike their division rivals, they’ve been struggling to hang on, and they’re projected to be fighting for one of the last few spots again this year. Given that Denson is 32, Duncan and Kamai are both 33, and Terry is still hanging around at 40, it might be time to start fresh sooner rather than later. Now might be the time to do it, too, as they’ve got a decent amount of young talent further down the roster, like 23-year-old W/C Kevin Corado and 26-year-olds B/ZB Andres Burnell and W/ZB Trevor Grimm. If the Sawyers can make another postseason appearance, though, they might not want to tear it apart, so it might honestly be best for them if they don’t.

Texas Redbacks
Ah, Texas. Obviously, names like Amigazzi, Whitt and Garcia are here, but you might not have expected to see Rick Delaney, Kevin Hur and Kyle Barb. Those three have stepped up big while the other three (plus guys like B/ZB Thomas Ridley and F/ZB duo Sean Perez and Colby Peters) have aged into their mid-thirties, and have played an underrated part in the Redbacks’ continued success. 25-year-old B/ZB Dustin Forristal deserves a shoutout as well, though he’s a bit newer onto the scene. Whether the ‘Backs fall off a cliff or manage to keep up this level of success up long-term will depend largely on how those younger guys can manage without the bigger, older names that came before them.

Last edited by ItDoesntMatter (1/14/2021 2:52 pm)