Tre Leclaire's heater, the Atlas are playing playoff games, Teddy Malone breaks out, and something is rotten in Denver. PLL Week 9 Overreactions.

Tre Leclaire is on the league’s hottest heater

It’s hard to not sound hyperbolic when talking about how hot Tre Leclaire has been lately. Between the Fairfield and Denver weekends, he nearly tripled his season point total. He showed up to Fairfield with ten points on the season. He left Denver with his total at 27, now tied for 10th in the PLL. Scoring 17 points over three games, just shy of six points per game, is unreal. Other players to do that since PLL launch in 2019:

2026 CJ Kirst 

2025 Sowers 

2025 Malone 

2025 Pat Kavanagh

2025 Shellenberger (won MVP)

2024 Teat (won MVP) 

2022 Lyle (won AOTY) 

2022 Pannell

2021 Teat

That’s a ridiculous list, and it's all attackmen. Leclaire has hit three two pointers in that span. He’s impacting both ends of the field, scoring in transition, but also has been assertive as a dodger and in the two man game. He’s bringing whole new dimensions to the way the Archers can play. Since he has caught fire, the Archers are outscoring opponents 47-27, and are 3-0 against the Waterdogs, Outlaws, and Whipsnakes. Things change on a week to week basis in the PLL, but the Archers led by a brutally physical, stout defense and a multidimensional, versatile offense look like the favorite to win the west. 

Something is rotten in Denver

Since the All Star break, Denver is 1-3. The win is a narrow victory against a Chaos team that lost Jack Rowlett in the first quarter and played the entire game down one, and for a brief time two, players. Two of the losses came this weekend in front of one of the most fervent fan bases in pro lacrosse, and neither one was pretty. Utah beat them 16-11, and the margin could have been wider if not for a late Pat Kavanagh two pointer. Philadelphia beat them 18-8 and again, that margin could have been wider as it was a drubbing from wire to wire. Going 0-2 and adding a -15 to your score differential in the process is as bad as it gets. Brennan O’Neill didn’t play in game two due to a lower body injury. There’s no sugar coating it, O’Neill’s season has been awful. He now has more games without a one point goal than with a one point goal. He’s scored multiple goals in a game just twice (although he did have two games where his only goal was a two pointer). Yes his assist total is up, but this team needs their best threat to put the ball in the goal. Philadelphia went on a 9-0 run against this team on Saturday, the Outlaws never called timeout to try and get organized and stop the bleeding. Pat Kavanagh was the only guy out there who clearly looked to me like he was ready to fight someone, dodge hard and put his body on the line, find a little piss and vinegar and spark his team. A roster like Denver’s has no business being below .500, and certainly shouldn’t be tied for fourth in the league in scores. PLL is ultra competitive, but that's not an excuse for losing with this roster. They play Maryland this weekend on ABC, they’ll get a mountain of buzz and fanfare for a network TV game, they need to decide what kind of season they want to have. 

The Atlas are playing playoff games

The tough thing about that is that the playoffs don’t start for another month. The Atlas came into the Denver weekend needing wins, and left with another loss that dropped them to 3-6. I’m not sure how the PLL calculates their playoff percentage numbers. I have started thinking better of doing anything prediction related when it comes to the PLL. It wasn’t long ago the thinking was that Boston is the league’s worst team and California is the best. I will not presume that New York is dead until they mathematically cannot catch anyone else in the East in the win column. It’s been a less than ideal season, no running from that. Trevor Baptiste missed significant time with injuries, Jeff Teat won’t play this season due to surgery, Gavin Adler wears purple now, that alone is reason for the defending champs to take a step back. But a team that puts Connor Shellenberger and Bryan Costabile on the field together has a chance to win every game. Atlas have remaining games against California, Denver, and then the second game of the weekend for Philadelphia. All three are winnable in my yes. The biggest challenge will be erasing their hideous -21 score differential. Winning those three games is one thing, winning them blowout style, like they’ll need to, is something else. But stranger things have happened. 

The Chaos have something in Teddy Malone

The Harvard kid had six points, including an OT game winner, in a victory over Boston this weekend. That six points came on four goals and two assists. Malone was a late addition to the roster, but has been a nice spark to the offense. Chaos continue to need more assisted goals, but the things are trending up. Over their last three games, Carolina has had half or more of their goals assisted. They scored 13 against Boston, a nice step up in production. That has coincided with a step up in Malone’s role. He has at least one assist in each of the last four games. His point total has climbed each game over the last three games. On a per game basis, Malone is outsourcing players like Kieran McArdle, Mikey Weisshaar, Matt Traynor, and Owen Hiltz. Every year there’s some undrafted talent that really shines as the year goes on, Malone is leading that charge in 2026.