2026 NLL Player Rankings: Most Valuable Player
While The Lax Mag’s National Lacrosse League Player Rankings typically orders the league’s Top 30 players from #1 to #30 since soon after the league’s opening weekend and right up to the end of the regular season, now that we’re in playoff mode, we’re shifting focus to our NLL year-end awards.
Specifically, who our rankings system (more on that here) says should win all of the NLL’s most important end-of-season honours, plus a new one for us this year: Rising Player of the Year, Rookie of the Year, Transition Player of the Year, Defensive Player of the Year, Goalie of the Year, and of course, Most Valuable Player.
Following the same rules for our weekly Top 30 (again, see here), only players that played at least two-thirds of the NLL regular season will be considered.
All of The Lax Mag’s awards will be announced throughout the 2026 NLL Playoffs.
Dhane Smith and Josh Byrne, Buffalo Bandits (Photo: Jeff Crawford)
MOST VALUABLE PLAYER
The Lax Mag’s most exclusive year-end honour is this one, Most Valuable Player. Since rebooting the brand and re-establishing our regular season recognition before the 2022 season, our player rankings math has only ever settled on two players for MVP over that time.
2022: Dhane Smith
2023: Dhane Smith
2024: Josh Byrne
2025: Dhane Smith
Although Smith again cracked our final Top 5 of the year, a new name has emerged as this year’s TLM pick for MVP.
Who is it?
Well, if you’re been following our NLL Player Rankings all season, it’s a pretty obvious pick, based on a variety of MVP-worthy reasons.
See The Lax Mag’s Top 5 ranked players below, our easy selection for most valuable, plus our final NLL TOP 30 of the year.
TOP 5 PLAYERS
5. Zach Currier
Age: 31
Team: San Diego Seals
Position: Forward
Stat Line: 22 G, 35 A, 57 PTS, 200 LB, 23 CTO, 12 BLK, 907 TCH, 726 EP
Acquired: Traded by Calgary to San Diego on July 11, 2024
From: Peterborough, ON
We excluded him from our Transition Player of the Year analysis because, well, Zach Currier plays primarily up front, and then a more secondary role on the other side of centre back checking, playing the short man, and even some important shifts on straight D. Impressive, clearly, but as Brett Frood himself described, not true transition by any means. With all that said, there is no player in the NLL right now like Zach Currier. While his point total ranked just tied for 44th across the league, peek that full stat line above. Absolute absurdity. Currier is hands down the most complete player in the NLL, no one else really coming all that close. He came up clutch in San Diego’s last two weekends of the season (averaged 6 points per during their last three games) to help the team clinch one of the final playoff spots.
Dhane Smith, Buffalo Bandits (Photo: Jonathan Tenca)
4. Dhane Smith
Age: 33
Team: Buffalo Bandits
Position: Forward
Stat Line: 39 G, 79 A, 118 PTS, 86 LB, 4 CTO, 1 BLK, 1,646 TCH, 1,265 EP
Acquired: 2012 NLL Entry Draft (5th overall)
From: Kitchener, ON
The Buffalo Bandits scored 43 fewer goals this year, which ultimately prevented Dhane Smith from breaking the league’s single-season assists record for a fifth consecutive year. His 79 helpers were still second best across the entire NLL, his point total Top 3 territory too. In fact, since the 2022 regular season, Dhane Smith is the only player to finish Top 3 in regular season point production in every single season.
2022
Dhane Smith (BUF) 135
Ryan Lee (COL) 119
Joe Resetarits (ALB) 111
2023
Jeff Teat (NY) 136
Dhane Smith (BUF) 132
Mitch Jones (VAN/PHI) 126
2024
Josh Byrne (BUF) 135
Dhane Smith (BUF) 134
Jeff Teat (NY) 131
2025
Dhane Smith (BUF) 134
Josh Byrne (BUF) 134
Connor Fields (ROC) 122
2026
Keegan Bal (VAN) 124
Connor Fields (ROC) 119
Dhane Smith (BUF) 118
We’ve said it before, but that’s Wayne Gretzky-type statistical shit.The only aspect of his game that kept Smith out of our season-closing Top 3 for the first time was that previously mentioned slight decline in loosies, plus more sizeable shrinkage in caused turnovers (4 this year after averaging 14 from 2022-2024). Smith’s touches (1,646) and effective passes (1,265) were only bettered by Jeff Teat. He also finished fifth in The Lax Mag’s Clutch King analysis, Smith scoring 5 game-tying, 3 go-ahead and 3 game-winning goals, one of which was in OT during a Week 17 win in San Diego. A 30/60/90 club member (G/A/LB) from 2022-20224, Smith just missed that slash this year
Jeff Teat, Ottawa Black Bears (Photo: Jonathan Tenca)
3. Jeff Teat
Age: 29
Team: Ottawa Black Bears
Position: Forward
Stat Line: 44 G, 71 A, 119 LB, 7 CTO, 3 BLK, 1,747 TCH, 1,307 EP
Acquired: 2020 NLL Entry Draft (1st overall)
From: Brampton, ON
Considered by many to be the best player in the league on any given day, Jeff Teat has been an NLL MVP Finalists just once. This year, he seemingly barely slipped onto the league’s All-NLL Second Team too. Why? Because his team, the Ottawa Black Bears (previously New York Riptide), are allergic to making the playoffs. Is that his fault? Nope. Put most if not all the players voted onto the league’s All-NLL Teams on Ottawa or any club below them on the standings (Calgary, Rochester, Oshawa or Philadelphia), and would they get them into the postseason? Highly doubtful. So why hold that against Teat, who continues to produce at a rate that only a few players in any season, including 2026, come close to? Teat’s value to his team was confirmed even further this year, ranking #1 in The Lax Mag’s Clutch Kings. Only Tanner Cook (Calgary) and Alex Simmons (Oshawa) had more game-tying goals this year than Teat, while the Black Bears captain led the NLL in go-ahead goals. Plus, as we’ve mentioned so many times this year, Teat did by far his most damage in 2026 in the critical fourth quarter (48% of his 44 goals happened in the final frame). No player came close to Teat’s touches (1,747) and effective passes (1,307), again, showing just how much Ottawa relies on him regularly. If that’s not MVP worthy, not sure what is. Oh right, playing on a better team and making the postseason.
Keegan Bal, Vancouver Warriors (Photo: Jordan Leigh and Jacklyn McKee)
2. Keegan Bal
Age: 34
Team: Vancouver Warriors
Position: Forward
Stat Line: 45 G, 79 A, 124 PTS, 3 SHG, 106 LB, 1 CTO, 1,440 TCH, 1,090 EP
Acquired: Signed as free agent on Sept. 26, 2018
From: Coquitlam, BC
In 2026, Keegan Bal became just the sixth British Columbia-born player to lead the NLL in points, ever.
Paul Gait (1992, 2002)
Gary Gait (1995, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2004)
Athan Iannucci (2008)
Josh Byrne (2024, 2025)
Keegan Bal (2026)
Not a bad little list to have your name on, huh? Bal was also in on (either a G or an A) on 62% of all Vancouver goals during the regular season, ranking just barely behind Jeff Teat in this analysis, an area the Ottawa captain usually dominates in. See every team’s top point producer and what percentage of their team’s points they contributed to…
Jeff Teat (OTT) 62.2%
Keegan Bal (VAN) 62.0%
Alex Simmons (OSH) 60.9%
Dhane Smith (BUF) 59.3
Connor Fields (ROC) 58.0%
Tyler Pace (CAL) 55.1%
Clarke Petterson (HFX) 48.1%
Jonathan Donville (LV) 47.9%
Ryan Keenan (SK) 46.1%
Will Malcom (COL) 43.2%
Shayne Jackson (GA) 42.5%
Brennan O’Neill (PHI) 40.6%
Wes Berg (SD) 40.0%
CJ Kirst/Mark Matthews (TOR) 36.4%
Not bad considering Vancouver added the likes of Jesse King and Curtis Dickson over the offseason, some surmising that Bal’s offensive stat line would take a hit in 2026. It didn’t. In fact, Bal had his most productive season yet over his near decade in the big leagues. A 60-loosie scooper over the previous three years, Bal blasted that number to 106 this year, hitting his first 30/60/90 season (G/A/LB) too.
Also extremely noteworthy, Bal’s 44-point gap between his season-ending point total and second on the team, was the highest 1v2 data distance between teammates in 2026. Again, below is every team’s point leader from the regular season, and how big a PTS gap they own versus the second highest point producer on their team this year.
Keegan Bal (VAN) 44
Clarke Petterson (HFX) 34
Alex Simmons (OSH) 26
Brennan O’Neill (PHI) 22
Jeff Teat (OTT) 16
Connor Fields (ROC) 13
Ryan Keenan (SK) 9
Shayne Jackson (GA) 5
Dhane Smith (BUF) 5
Will Malcom (COL) 4
Wes Berg (SD) 3
Tyler Pace (CAL) 2
Jonathan Donville (LV) 1
CJ Kirst/Mark Matthews (TOR) 0
Once unwanted and then underrated, Keegan Bal is hands down one of today’s most talented, relied on and impactful players, and had it not been for Brett Dobson’s history-making campaign in Georgia’s crease, Ball would have no doubt been 2026’s NLL MVP.
Brett Dobson, Georgia Swarm (Photo: Isaiah J. Downing)
1. Brett Dobson
Age: 26
Team: Georgia Swarm
Position: Goalie
Stat Line: 876 SOG, 742 SV, 7.86 GAA, .847 SV%, 48.10 GSAA, .647 W%
Acquired: 2022 NLL Entry Draft (11th overall)
From: Oshawa, ON
Throughout the season and then again in our Goalie of the Year analysis, we’ve covered how significant and historic Brett Dobson’s 2026 season with the Swarm was. While some of the most elite players in the league have been fortunate enough to set one single-season record in the past (not easy), Dobson redid three long-standing goalie figures over the last several months: GAA, SV% and GSAA. Fine, statistically, he was unreal, but how important was Dobson to the Georgia Swarm, who during the preseason, many felt would be a team that struggled in 2026? Well, go back to the Swarm’s Week 17 game against the Halifax Thunderbirds, specifically the seconds after Dobson was pulled and given a fourth-frame breather with Georgia owning a commanding 16-9 lead with less than half of the period quarter to go. What happened? The team completely collapsed, allowing six goals in about five minutes, and playing with little to no confidence after Dobson shed his gear and was no doubt done for the night. Georgia would ultimately win the game, with Dobson back between the pipes. So, for those that need a storyline to justify their MVP vote, there you go. For those that wonder how a team would perform without said star player (“They would suck without him,” often opinionated, and almost always lacking any actual evidence), again, there’s your proof. Between his all-time stat shattering performance and how obscenely important he was to the Georgia Swarm’s unexpected regular season success, there is zero debate, Brett Dobson was 2026’s most valuable player.
NLL TOP 30: FINAL
TW. (LW) Player, Team (Pos.)
1. (1) Brett Dobson, Georgia (G) MVP & GOALIE OF THE YEAR
2. (3) Keegan Bal, Vancouver (F)
3. (2) Jeff Teat, Ottawa (F) CLUTCH KING
4. (4) Dhane Smith, Buffalo (F)
5. (8) Zach Currier, San Diego (F)
6. (7) Connor Fields, Rochester (F)
7. (5) Andrew Kew, Colorado (F)
8. (6) Callum Jones, Ottawa (D) DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR
9. (9) Christian Del Bianco, Vancouver (G)
10. (10) Josh Byrne, Buffalo (F)
11. (11) Alex Simmons, Oshawa (F)
12. (13) Tanner Cook, Calgary (F) RISING PLAYER OF THE YEAR
13. (12) Ryan Lanchbury, Rochester (F)
14. (16) Jonathan Donville, Las Vegas (F)
15. (14) Mitch Jones, Las Vegas (F)
16. (17) Jordan MacIntosh, Georgia (T) TRANSITION PLAYER OF THE YEAR
17. (15) Mike Messenger, Saskatchewan (T)
18. (18) Jack Hannah, Colorado (F)
19. (19) Rob Hellyer, Ottawa (F)
20. (22) Tyler Pace, Calgary (F)
21. (20) Dillon Ward, Colorado (G)
22. (NR) Nick Rose, Toronto (G)
23. (21) Ryan Keenan, Saskatchewan (F)
24. (24) CJ Kirst, Toronto (F) ROOKIE OF THE YEAR
25. (28) Mitch de Snoo, Buffalo (D)
26. (23) Will Malcom, Colorado (F)
27. (26) Connor Kirst, Las Vegas (T)
28. (NR) Brad Kri, Toronto (D)
29. (29) Graeme Hossack, Halifax (D)
30. (NR) Sam English, Toronto (T)