April 23, 2025
By Alex Rubin
EAST DIVISION
For several years, the East Division has been considered the toughest division in the UFA. From the early years when Toronto was rolling through undefeated seasons through the battles between New York and DC, it seems like there has always been a title contender waiting at home during Championship Weekend, such was the depth of the division. This year once again we will see at least one playoff-caliber team without any scheduled playoff games, as the New York Empire, Boston Glory, DC Breeze, and Toronto Rush all appear playoff ready and only three playoff spots for them to take.
The DC Breeze fulfilled a half-decade long quest to make it to Championship Weekend last season, but they fell short in the semifinal once there. Though they took a step forward in 2024, the Breeze are entering 2025 with a familiar feeling: satisfaction for a great season, and a knowledge that the team can go farther. In many ways, the Breeze are bringing the band back together. Christian Boxley is rejoining the team after a season away and mainstays like Rowan McDonnell, AJ Merriman, Jacques Nissen, and Cole Jurek are all back on board along with coach Lauren Boyle.
That’s not to say there’s no change. Jonny Malks and Elliot Bonnet—the team’s leading assist thrower and goal scorer last year, respectively—both moved away from the DC area and aren’t on any UFA rosters for now. On the defensive end, Troy Holland likewise will not be suiting up for the Breeze after moving to Seattle. While those players' unique skill sets and the trust they built with their teammates cannot be directly replaced, the reintroduction of Boxley and the signing of 2024 Callahan Award winner Aidan Downey, formerly of the Atlanta Hustle, should help the team mitigate their losses. As the team also benefits from the natural development of younger players like Andrew Roy, Alexandre Fall, Jace Dean, and Miles Grovic, the Breeze have everything they need to return to Championship Weekend if they can make it through the grueling East Division gauntlet.
While the Breeze won the division last season, the New York Empire won the offseason free agent sweepstakes. Max Sheppard (from Pittsburgh), Calvin Brown ( from LA), Everest Shapiro (from LA), Gavin May (from Oakland), Oliver Fay (from Austin), Jacob Cowan (rookie), Ben Simmons (rookie), and Ethan Lieman (rookie) all are moving to New York and playing with the Empire this season. With returners like Jack Williams, Ben Jagt, Antoine Davis, Antoine Davis, and John Randolph still around, the Empire once again have the look of a juggernaut who can win the league while making their play look easy.
New York will weather the departure of franchise legends Mike and Ryan Drost and offensive centerpieces like Elliott Chartock and Charles Weinberg, but the team still has a slew of younger players ready to make their mark for a franchise that has no shortage of star power to go around. While the Empire can import key players, they are also taking on a new experiment this season with homegrown talent. Rookie Sam McCrory, who is still in high school, stood out in the Empire’s streamed pre-season game against the Philadelphia Phoenix, and is coming with the team for their season opening road trip to Oakland and Las Vegas. A virtual unknown a few weeks ago, he’ll soon be sharing a D-line with players like Davis and Brownlee of Team USA fame. It will take some effort to integrate so much new talent, but the Empire have all the makings of a strong program and it will be no surprise if we see them back at Championship Weekend come August.
Last season the Boston Glory took the league by surprise, knocking New York out of the playoffs earlier than anyone had since 2017. The Glory then went and re-signed all of their major contributors from last season including league MVP Jeff Babbitt, Simon Carapella, Tannor Johnson-Go, Ben Sadok, and Orion Cable. Not to be outdone by New York’s free agent haul, the Glory added three impact additions: 2024 Rookie of the Year Tobe Decraene (from Montreal), Calvin Stoughton (from Colorado), and Sebastian Rossi (a UFA rookie with Italian National Team experience).
For the first time in their short history, Boston truly has a target on their backs. With their high profile additions, the two-time reigning MVP, and one of the smartest coaching staffs in the league, it is no secret that the Glory are a dangerous opponent. In their early years, the Glory struggled with week-to-week consistency and found themselves on the outside of the playoff picture. That problem was solved in 2024, but Boston has yet to prove that they can segue that consistency season over season. With no out of division games on the schedule, playing well every week will matter a bit more for Boston since every game will influence two teams' places in the standings.
Boston’s Decreane and Rossi are far from the only European players who will impact the East Division title race. In January, the Toronto Rush announced the signings of Arvīds Kārkliņš, Toms Ābeltiņš, Connor McHale, Simone Gasperini, and Tom Blasman. All of them play for top four European club teams and have featured in international competition, but will play their first UFA games this season. Closer to home, the Rush also inked several Canadian stars who are returning to the team after taking at least a season away. Mark Lloyd, Ty Barbieri, Mike Mackenzie, James Lewis, and Wilkie Lewis dot the Rush roster alongside holdovers from 2024 like Luc Comire, Phil Turner, and Oscar Stonehouse. After a few years near the bottom of the division, suddenly Toronto is expected to be back in the playoff picture.
Of course, it will be a significant challenge to integrate so many new pieces all at once, especially given the diverse backgrounds that they all come from. With a lot of UFA veterans still around the team and a lot of support from the team for the European rookies, the Rush are committed to working together to get back to the playoffs. Toronto has one of the easier schedules in the division (three games against Montreal, and a cross-division game against Pittsburgh), though their opener against the Breeze will be a clear measuring stick game for a team with ambitious aspirations.
The Philadelphia Phoenix enter the season with hopes of improving on last season’s disappointing campaign. With Paul Owens, Eric Nardelli, Mike Campanella, and Sean Mott on the roster, Philadelphia is going to be one of the grittiest teams in the league. Their physicality and experience will make life hard on opponents, and the team’s energetic youthful bunch is poised to inject the team with new life. Scott Heyman should make a large impact in a full UFA season, after putting up a double-double in just six games last season. Now that he graduated from college, his attention will be more squarely set on finding success with his hometown team. Other local youth products like Adam Grossberg, Sam Grossberg, Michael Maroon, Ethan Pigeon, and Max Tran are all reasons to be excited about the future in Philly.
The Montreal Royal likewise surround an experienced core with young, exciting talent. Montreal return Jeremy Hill (coming back after an ACL repair), Jakob Brissette, Kevin Quinlan, and Quentin Bonnaud are all capable leaders ready to shoulder large offensive roles. Kuochuan Ponzio joins after playing a bit with Boston in previous seasons. He’ll add some defensive grit to a team that will need to find a way to slow down the talented offenses around the division. The Royal will need some more of their lesser-known players to step up and become household names to be successful in a really challenging division. While Montreal has the ability to steal a win here or there, finding the future stars of the team will also constitute a win for the franchise as a whole.
CENTRAL DIVISION
The battle between the Chicago Union and the Minnesota Wind Chill will be the story to follow in the Central Division. Their collective collection of talent all but assures them of the top two playoff spots, but the race for the third and final playoff spot is up for grabs, and will be an exciting sub-plot to follow throughout the season as well.
Many of the most notable offseason moves involved the Chicago Union raiding some of the best players from their division rivals. Chicago is bringing in Xavier Payne and William Wettengel from Indianapolis and Victor Luo from Madison to consolidate their talent and try to knock off the defending champions. The Union are also bringing back a number of former players who took time off since their 2022 run to the final including Nate Goff, Paul Arters, Tim Schoch, Jace Bruner, and Pawel Janas. Perhaps most notably, Chicago also signed Daan De Marrée, the two time reigning Ultiworld European Player of the Year. For many teams, signing Simon Dastrup (from Salt Lake) and Dylan Nice (from Oakland) would be significant moves–and they are here too–but such is the wave of talent descending on the Windy City that they almost get lost in the shuffle despite their expected defensive contributions.
The Union coaching staff will have a tough task assigning which players will make each game day roster–there may be games where the Union’s twelve inactive players could beat some of the full teams they’re playing. Too much talent is an okay problem to have–especially for a team with a competitive, revenge-bent mindset and championship ambitions.
It’s the Minnesota Wind Chill that Chicago is after. In case you need reminding, the Wind Chill won the 2024 title with an excellent performance in incredibly windy conditions. Rather than rest comfortably with their accomplishments, they went out and improved this offseason as well, signing two two-way threats in James Pollard (from Philadelphia) and Justin Burnett (from Atlanta). Both Pollard and Burnett should bolster a defense that already includes the physicality of Dylan DeClerck, the pulling of Cameron Lacy, and deep rotation of young coverage specialists, but their presence on the counterattack is expected to improve Minnesota’s break conversion rate.
On the offensive side of the disc, a full season with Will Brandt at the help will help the team build offensive chemistry earlier in the season. Brandt, last season’s Championship Weekend MVP, has not played more than seven games in a season while also competing in the college division. He graduated last spring and should have more time to focus on the UFA this season.
Leo Sovell-Fernandez, Josh Klane, Quinn Snider, and Matt Rehder lead a dynamic offense that can thrive, as we saw last season, in any condition. With slight improvements, Minnesota would typically open as the division favorite, but Chicago seemed to move heaven and earth to get in their way. With two regular season matchups, and their expected grudge match in the playoffs, these top teams will go after each other all season long to set themselves up for success. Only one team from the Central can make Championship Weekend, but Chicago and Minnesota have both clearly stated their ambitions as league title contenders; their jockeying for position and on-field battles will be must watch TV during the season, and whichever team emerges will be well prepared for the challenges ahead at Championship Weekend.
The Madison Radicals bring back many of their key contributors from a season ago, and add some new faces to bring a more competitive group to the field this season. Madison returns Ian McCosky, who just won a title with Minnesota, and signed Kainoa Chun-Moy and Eric Sjostrom, formerly of Atlanta. All three are talented throwers, and they should pair nicely with the downfield athletes already on the Radicals roster. 2024 All-Rookie selections Pieran Robert and Gabe Vordick should continue to improve, as will Second Team All Defense selection Mitchell McCarthy. With the magic of Breese Stevens Field still making their home venue one of the most intimidating stadiums in the league, Madison has a leg up on the rest of the division and should feel confident keeping the inside track to the final playoff spot. While the Radicals still have a few more pieces to put together before they’re back in championship contention, they’ll assuredly be a fun team to watch and always have spoiler potential with the familiarity bred between Central Division opponents.
For the first time in recent memory, the Pittsburgh Thunderbirds will take the field without Max Sheppard, who now has a spot on New York’s roster. Though they’ll need to replace his production, steady veterans like Jonathan Mast, Anson Reppermund, and Chris Graber will keep the team’s floor relatively high while budding stars like Anil Driehuys and Alex Mullen grow into more prominent roles. With a roster full of promising, but unproven talent, Pittsburgh’s potential is high, and they could absolutely find themselves in the mix come playoff time.
Like Pittsburgh, the Indianapolis AlleyCats are moving on from a franchise cornerstone and turning the team over to younger, promising talent. Franchise cornerstones Cam Brock (now with Atlanta), Travis Carpenter (retirement), and Rick Gross (retirement) all moved on over the offseason. The next generation of talent brought up as their replacements–Xavier Payne, William Wettengel, and Lucas Coniaris–are rostered with other teams this season. For over a decade, Indianapolis was the picture of continuity as a stable core kept the team competitive. This year for the first time since 2012, there are a lot of unknowns coming out of Indy and that will lead to plenty of opportunities for younger players to show off their skills. It will likely be a few years before Indy makes the playoffs again, but the opening statements fans witness this season will set the standard for the team’s next run of competitive play.
Meanwhile the Detroit Mechanix, seemingly always in the hope for a more promising future, feel like they’ll be a more competitive team this season. Joe Cubbitt is back after a season away, and Jacob Felton’s rookie campaign gives the team’s fans a bonafide star player to root for. A budding college and youth scene in Western Michigan brought in Collin Hill (formerly of Atlanta) while he plays at nearby scholarship program Davenport University, and former star Justin Perticone rejoined the team for this season. The Mechanix won their first game in ages last season, and they’ll have a few real chances to repeat that feat again this season as the team starts to build a culture used to winning and ready to be a competitive team.
SOUTH DIVISION
The South Division underwent the most changes of any in this round of realignment, but the division is likely to come down to the same two teams who have been at or near the top of the standings since the post-COVID restart: Carolina and Atlanta.
The Carolina Flyers reached last season’s title game, but entering 2025 they have a lot of talented leaders to replace: Sol Yanuck, Ben Snell, Anders Juengst, Henry Fisher are all taking this season off, and Tobias Brooks signed with Colorado. But, the Flyers are loaded with young talent ready for their turn in the spotlight. Rutledge Smith, Zander Wilcox, and Christian Belus are all first- or second-year Flyers poised to make a big impact. Along with new coach Michael Avila, there is a lot of change in the Triangle air, but there is also a lot of opportunity to turn over a new chapter in the storied history of the Flyers franchise.
Allan Laviolette and Jacob Fairfax are one of the most effective hybrid duos in the league, each capable of churning out big-yardage cuts or making tough throws to get the team out of tricky positions. With red zone aficionados like Smith, John McDonnell, and Elijah Long leading the backfield, Carolina’s offense is built to withstand the league’s toughest defenses and score quickly. With several other teams vying for playoff position, Carolina’s ability to integrate new players and coaches quickly will be an X-factor in the race to return to Championship Weekend.
For years (specifically 2016-2019), Carolina played second fiddle to Dallas, always fielding a talented team, but never breaking through to Championship Weekend. Their experience parallels the Atlanta Hustle, who for the fifth straight year, has a roster capable of making towards Championship Weekend. The Hustle lost deciding playoff games to New York (2021), Carolina (2022, 2024) and Austin (2023) over the last few years and has yet to break through, but this could be their season.
The Hustle offense could become the best in the league. Free agent signings Cameron Brock (from Indy), Alec Wilson Holliday (from Dallas), and Sean Connole (from Salt Lake) replace the retiring Matt Smith and Bobby Ley. With Jeremy Langdon, Austin Taylor, and Brett Hulsmeyer back to steer the ship, it will be tough for any defense to stop just those top five let alone the rest of the supporting cast who all find their own places to shine.
Atlanta’s defense will need to replace the contributions of Justin Burnett, who is playing this season with Minnesota, but has plenty of capable leaders (Bradley Seuntjens, Michael Fairley, and Jakeem Polk, for example) and a cadre of young stars looking to make their mark in the UFA. Under the creative tutelage of coach Tuba Benson-Jaja, the Hustle have a clear shot to win the division and make their first trip to Championship Weekend, and if they make it there the team will be prepared. The Hustle have a very challenging schedule this season including games against Salt Lake, Minnesota, and Chicago alongside a cross-country road trip to Southern California. There’s no doubt that if the Hustle make it to Championship Weekend, they’ll have earned it.
For the past three years, the Austin Sol have been a dominant force in the South Division, highlighted by their 2023 Championship Weekend appearance. This season, they’ll need to adapt their game to compete for a playoff spot with some of the keys to playoff runs of years past like Zach Slayton (now in Colorado), Oliver Fay (now in New York), Evan Swiatek, and Duncan Fitzgerald no longer on the Sol roster. The holes created by their departures leaves space for young players like Mark Henke and Jackson Potts to step up and support stars like Kyle Henke and Joey Wylie. As the Sol navigate a changing roster, they’ll also face a tougher schedule. They will need to survive more difficult out-of-division games against the likes of Colorado and Madison to retain their playoff position.
In their first season in the South Division, the San Diego Growlers have their eyes set on the playoffs. The Growlers built a really competitive team with many of SoCal’s best players commuting down to San Diego to play together under the coaching of Kaela Helton, Goose Helton, and Kevin Stuart. Multi-time All-UFA selection Travis Dunn leads a lineup that includes KJ Koo, Khalif El-Salaam, and Matt Miller alongside UFA veterans like Kyle Rubin, Jesse Cohen, and Marcel Osborne. Though they switched from the West Division to the South Division, San Diego has experience competing in Texas from Dallas’s and Austin’s stint in the West Division back in 2021. For many a first trip to the mid-summer Texas heat is daunting, but the Growlers have the experience to manage it better than others might in their position. San Diego also has the familiarity of many cross-division games against West Division teams still on the schedule. For the past several years, Carolina, Atlanta, and Austin danced their way in different orders to the playoffs. Now, San Diego enters the fray, ready to write the next chapter in their story.
Now one of just two teams in the Lone Star State, the Houston Havoc invigorated their roster with both veteran talent and hungry youngsters while trying to be more competitive in the new-look division. Local legends like Chase Cunningham and Dalton Smith signed are joining fellow Dallas Roughnecks alumni (Ben Lewis, Matt Bennett, Connor Ughetta, and Jimmy Zuraw) on the experienced end of the Havoc roster. How quickly the team’s younger, less experienced players find their groove and begin to contribute at a winning level will determine the level at which the team can compete. Houston has a solid coaching staff and a good foundation to build from, so with the injection of free agent talent this could be the most competitive Havoc team this franchise has produced in their short history.
The South Division’s other west coast newbie, the Los Angeles Aviators, are working through a sizable amount of roster turnover this season. Welcoming a new head coach and turning over more than half of their starting O-line from last season would be enough of a challenge without also needing to game plan for a whole new set of opponents. With a lot of players eager to prove themselves at the professional level, the Aviators could be a fun team to watch this season, but their success will be found in crafting a team identity and building the beginnings of a competitive team down the road rather than by counting their wins this season.
WEST DIVISION
It might be cliche to call it the Wild, Wild, West, but the West Division genuinely looks like it could see some topsy-turvy results. Four teams each have a legitimate case to be considered the favorites to make Championship Weekend, so we’ll have to see the arguments they make on the field to fully judge who is right.
The Seattle Cascades were the West’s representative at Championship Weekend last season, pulling off the shocking upset that kept Salt Lake from playing Championship Weekend in their home stadium. Lukas Ambrose announced himself as one of the most exciting players in the league last season, furnishing weekly highlight reels with flying blocks and chase-down goals aplenty. Ambrose produced a league-leading 34 blocks (including the playoffs), a whopping 12 more than second place finisher (and league MVP) Jeff Babbitt.
Ambrose is not the only star in town. Garrett Martin has blossomed into one of the league’s best scorers, working alongside Marc Munoz and Spencer Lofink to provide Seattle with a balanced offense. Downfield, Zeppelin Raunig does the most damage, partnering with 2024 All-Rookie selection Aaron Wolf. While franchise icon Khalif El-Salaam now lives in San Diego, rookie Conor Belfield is a like-for-like shutdown defender who can handle the disc on the counterattack. Seattle will not have the element of surprise like they did last season, but they have everything they need to return to Championship Weekend. As the franchise hopes to build year-to-year consistency, this season will be a big test of this young core’s ability to play with a target on their back and bring their best each and every week.
Though they were not able to play Championship Weekend on their home field, for the majority of last season Salt Lake Shred was clearly the best team in the west. Entering 2025, they bring a new level of humility to the field, and will also need to bring some elements of a new offense. Two primary offensive throwers–Sean Connole and Grant Lindsley–are not playing with the Shred this season. Though Jordan Kerr, Will Selfridge, and Jacob Miller are all around to keep some continuity, other players will have to step up and play bigger roles than we’ve seen.
Luckily, the Shred have no shortage of young talent. Prospects like Oscar Brown, Grayson Rettburg, Sam Pew and Nate De Morgan are currently showcasing their skills in the college game, and should be impact players on the UFA field too. Unlike last year when the Shred seemed to operate on cruise control, nothing will come easy for them this season. Cross-division games with Minnesota and Atlanta will provide a challenge, but if the Shred are able to fit all of their pieces into the right roles, they’ll be able to pass those tough tests and should be right back in the thick of the Championship Weekend conversation again.
Stunningly left out of the playoffs last season, the Colorado Summit expect a bounce-back year, and they’re building a team that should be able to return to Championship Weekend–which the team last graced in 2022. Veteran additions in Zach Slayton (from Austin), Keenan Laurence (from Oakland), and Sam VanDusen (from Pittsburgh) bolster an existing talent core centered around Alex Atkins (2024 All-UFA First Team) and Quinn Finer. Atkins especially will be in the spotlight as a thrower, with 2017 league MVP Jonathan Nethercutt taking this season off.
Working alongside the veterans on the team, Colorado is brimming with young talent. Noah Coolman and Zeke Thoreson both finished top-six on the team in +/- last season. Johnny Sickles, Seth Wells, and Nanda Min-Fink are a few other players under the age of 24 who already are bright spots on the team, and still have room to grow. The highlight of the Summit offseason, though, was the signing of former Flyer Tobias Brooks. Brooks will likely be away from the team until late June as he finishes the college season and a tour with the Team USA in the U24 World Championships, but he is expected to fill a spot on the Summit offense by the middle of the season, and if his first two seasons in the league are any indication, he’ll improve the play of the teammates around him. Brooks’ ultimate IQ and motor are particularly impressive for a player so young. Should Colorado return to Championship Weekend, he’ll be a big reason why, but not the only reason. This Summit team has talent up and down its roster, and will be a tough win for any team looking to keep them out of the playoffs.
For the past few years, the Oakland Spiders have hovered in the playoff picture, and this year they are looking to firmly plant their feet inside playoff’s door. The Spiders signed a pair of UFA rookies (but experienced ultimate players) in Adam Rees and Leo Gordon who should become instant-impact additions to their offense. Other offseason additions like Dexter Clyburn (returning after a season away), Dillon Whited (a rookie), and Seamus Robinson (formerly of LA) will help mitigate the losses of personnel like Jake Thorne and Chris Lung, who were both talented goal scorers.
Oakland is always a tough defensive team, and their home venue is one of the most difficult stadiums for opponents because of the swirling stadium wind. While they will integrate some important new players–not to mention a new coaching staff of Caleb Merriam and Joey Ricks–the talent on this roster is high enough that a return to the playoffs is more than possible and a return to Championship Weekend (the Spiders have not been back since winning the 2014 and 2015 titles) is plausible.
The Oregon Steel formed a new identity this offseason, and they hope that their name and logo change carries over to the field after a challenging 2024. Key players from last season like David Barram and Ben Thoennes will bring big throws and a winning attitude to a team in need of some swagger. Lucas Coniaris joined the team after a few years in Indianapolis, and was named a captain despite not playing for the team before. He brings Team USA U24 experience, and an outsider's perspective that could help the team succeed in a league that still feels new to many of Oregon’s players. The Steel’s overall identity and individual player development should be the priority this season. If they get that right, they can set the foundation for more competitive teams in years to come.
Lastly, the big excitement of the offseason was the announcement of the expansion Las Vegas Bighorns. Though not traditionally thought of as an ultimate hub, the Bighorns managed to sign a handful of former UFA starters (Joel Clutton from Salt Lake and Stephen Poulos, Ryan Hiser, and Jaime Perez from now-defunct Tampa Bay) to lead the team through its first season. Former player Matt Bode and former Spiders coach Dan Silverstein make up a creative coaching staff who will put the team in the best position possible to succeed. Building a team from scratch without the benefit of a strong local ultimate community or outside funding is a challenge. Like Oregon, if the Bighorns can foster a positive team identity and see improvement from their less experienced players, they can consider that a win as it will lay the foundation for future success.
