What's Next 2026: New York Atlas

2025 Season Result: 3-9, missed playoffs

Draft Selections: 1.1, 2.1, 3.1, 4.1

Pending Free Agents:

Carson Billig, SSDM

Vinny Butrico, A/M

Eli Gobrect, SSDM/LSM

Liam Kammer, SSDM

Nathan Laliberte, F/O

Will Mark, G

Jon Robbins, LSM/D

Jake Stevens, M

Cole Williams, M

SEASON RECAP

In a lot of ways, the Atlas season was defined by the players who never took the field for them. Defending a title in the PLL is extremely difficult, doing it suffering the personnel losses the Atlas suffered would have been miraculous. Gavin Adler left in free agency to join the Waterdogs, and Michael Grace suffered a knee injury indoors that caused him to miss the entire summer. In a blink, New York’s top cover man and best help defender from 2025 were both gone. Jeff Teat, arguably the best attackman in the world, needed shoulder surgery after the indoor season and missed the entire summer. Trevor Baptiste only able to play seven of 12 games, after needing to recover from indoor injuries and suffering another injury setback at Team USA training. 

It all added up to the Atlas being 1-3 entering their home weekend. They did go 2-0 at home, getting to .500 at the All Star break, but those two wins were the last two wins they’d get in the regular season. They went winless in the second half as their defense struggled to league worst levels in multiple categories. Their scores against average of 14 was more than a full score higher than the second worst team in the league. Liam Entenmann’s goaltending numbers suffered, though a look at film will tell even the most novice of an observer that this was a function of the team defense being poor rather than just goalie struggles. 

Bright spots included Brett Makar, who despite the defensive numbers did thrive as an individual. He led the league in caused turnovers and ground balls from a pole, and showed well in coverage while drawing the top assignment every week. Bryan Costabile turned in another elite season in the midfield. He was among the best dodging threats in the league yet again, shot nearly 30%, and led the league in two point goals. Those two, plus Shellenberger, provide cornerstone pieces for this franchise as they are all under contract for at least another year. 

OFFSEASON PLAN

The Atlas will pick first in the draft. But 2027 won’t be like most years. New NCAA eligibility rules mean that some of the top end talent that was long thought to be in the next draft won’t be there. Shawn Lyght, a Tewaaraton winner and top defensive prospect who was expected to be in the draft, suddenly has another season of eligibility and can return to Notre Dame to instead be drafted in 2028. The top defender in the draft looks to be Ohio State’s Bobby Van Buren, an elite defender in his own right. Van Buren has won matchups with Connor Shellenberger on more than one occasion in college, a testament to his readiness to cover the world’s best attackmen. 

The Atlas free agent list doesn’t have many major stars on it. Eli Gobrecht offers value as a guy who can play both SSDM and LSM. Jake Stevens is a solid two way midfielder who doesn’t always fill up the stat sheet but can bolster transition chances for the team. The challenge is that both of those players also play indoors, and the new PLL schedule means indoor players will almost certainly join their PLL team’s late unless something changes. PLL general managers will have to decide if they can live with that or not, and it could inform free agency and other personnel decisions. The other signing to make is the backup netminder. Will Mark is a quality goalie who just happens to be behind one of the best in the world.  Teams have inquired about Mark in trade talks and been rebuked. It may not always seem like the biggest splash signing, but keeping Mark in Atlas blue should be a priority.