June 19, 2025
By Daniel Cohen
It’s do-or-die time for Toronto, as their road trip to New York and Boston headlines the Week 9 slate. This week’s watchlist features a combination of international talent, franchise leaders, and big-game performers.
Jeff Babbitt, Boston Glory (Pictured)
“I am back on the D-line because it is where I can be most effective for the team in our current build.” said Jeff Babbitt, via Evan Lepler. The two-time reigning MVP has played 43 D-points compared to just two O-points in his last three games, and the results have felt unfair: four goals and 10 blocks, including four blocks in each game of last week’s Canada road trip. He now leads the league in takeaways with 15 on the year and suddenly feels like the frontrunner for Defensive Player of the Year given his performance across the border, which included several jaw-dropping layouts and clutch sky blocks. Boston is gearing up for a deep playoff run and adding their MVP to an already top five defensive unit undoubtedly feels like a recipe for success. Still, Toronto put up 23 goals in last week’s meeting thanks to an offense that is clicking on all cylinders, so Boston will likely need another big game from Babbitt to keep their perfect season alive.
Calvin Brown, New York Empire
One of the best new additions across the entire league, Calvin Brown has given this New York Empire offense exactly what they’ve been looking for since the departure of 2022 MVP Ryan Osgar. Not only has he completely opened up their deep game, but Brown has become the go-to centerpiece of a top-six offense. He’s led the team in total yards in every game he’s played, he’s surpassed the 700 yard mark in four of six games, and he leads the league in both total yards (729) and throwing yards (534) per game. Like many gunslingers, you often take the good with the bad, as Brown does average 3.7 throwaways per game, but this offense can usually withstand it given his touch volume and elevated ceiling he gives the O-line. Up against a vulnerable Toronto defense this week, this game has massive shootout potential, and New York will need a strong outing from their top deep thrower to keep pace with the explosive Toronto offense.
Daan De Marrée, Chicago Union
Two-time European Player of the Year Daan De Marrée has been as advertised to begin his UFA career, ranking top 10 in the league in plus/minus per game (+5.3) while completing nearly 98 percent of his throws. He’s been all over the field for Chicago and has repeatedly proven himself as a thrower, receiver, block-getter and all-around playmaker. It’ll be worth watching how his role continues to progress as Chicago looks to optimize their rotations—De Marrée has seen his D-points increase each game this season, with about a 60/40 O-point/D-point split in Chicago’s most recent game at Indy—and this weekend could present an opportunity to experiment with some new lines with two games against the bottom of the division. If De Marrée can keep stuffing the stat sheet for this high-powered Union squad, look for his name to pop up sooner rather than later in the MVP conversation.
Arvids Karklins, Toronto Rush
Arvids Karklins has formed one of the most formidable tandems in the league with fellow European import Tom Blasman. Over his last three games—which have come against Boston, New York and DC—Karklins has exploded for 18 assists, six goals, and over 1,800 yards of offense; those would rank as top five per-game averages on the season leaderboard. He’s the perfect offensive weapon, with the size and athleticism to dominate as a downfield receiver, the confidence and disc skills to cap drives in the red zone, and top-tier range on his hucks. His presence on the O-line has helped Toronto skyrocket this year to the fourth-most efficient offense in the league after ranking in the bottom 10 each year since 2022. The Rush are going to need their Latvian star to again step up in a must-win road trip at New York and Boston, as they look to keep their playoff hopes alive in what could easily be their most critical weekend of the season.
Jacob Fairfax, Carolina Flyers
Carolina will be without their top two scoring leaders this season, Allan Laviolette and Rutledge Smith, against Houston this week, so Jacob Fairfax may take on a larger role than usual. Of the five Flyers players who have played 100-plus O-points this year, Fairfax leads the group in individual offensive efficiency—the team scores on 62.3 percent of their possessions when Fairfax is on the field, up over six percentage points from Carolina’s 56.2 percent O-line conversion rate. Fairfax has a chance to take over the franchise record in career goals from teammate Terrence Mitchell—he currently trails Mitchell by five goals—and with Houston allowing nearly 22 scores per game and the second highest O-line conversion rate against, Carolina’s offense should have little trouble putting up points even without their top scorers.
Quinn Finer, Colorado Summit
Quinn Finer has never put together three consecutive eight-score (scores: goals plus assists) games in his career, but he’ll have a chance to do it this week in Colorado’s first ever meeting with Vegas. After struggling with throwaways in the first three games of the season, Finer’s been scorching hot over his last two games, completing a perfect 41-of-41 throws in that span with nine assists, seven goals, and over 800 yards of offense. He remains a key focal point of the offense, and the team’s success often feels tied to his individual performance; he had four throwaways in each of Colorado’s two losses this season, while he’s committed just two total turnovers in the three wins. Tobias Brooks, Keenan Laurence, and Zeke Thoreson are all out for tomorrow’s game, which means Finer should carry the load offensively and have his way against a bottom-five Bighorns defense.
Austin Taylor, Atlanta Hustle
Evan Lepler’s pick for midseason MVP, Austin Taylor has been thriving this season on the biggest workload of his career. Still with three games to go, he needs just 34 completions this week to set a new single-season career high, as he’s become the unquestioned anchor of the Hustle backfield following Bobby Ley’s retirement this past offseason; Taylor has over 100 more completions than the next closest Hustle player in 2025. A true QB1, his throwing arsenal has been on full display all year and seems to perfectly fit the situation on every possession, whether the team needs some momentum-sparking hucks, steady flow from the handler set, or patient attacks in the red zone. Taylor needs 11 assists and 67 completions to break into the top 10 all-time UFA leaderboard in each category, and regardless of whether he manages to hit those numbers this week, he’ll be on close MVP watch through the rest of the season.
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