2026 Pre-Draft Roster Updates: Player Releases and New Player Pool
It’s Draft season at the NSL and things have started off with a bang to start off the new year. Teams have submitted their roster changes ahead of the 2026 season, and several marquee players will be returning to the draft pool ahead of the 2026 NSL Draft in Cleveland, Ohio. Let’s get into it.
The Grizzlies Clean House
Chicago has had a woeful first two seasons in the NSL. Most of it can been attributed to bad luck on the injury front and a few questionable in-game coaching decisions, yet the Grizzlies still hold one of the most star studded rosters in the league. That is, until now- Chicago has decided to keep only British phenom Sam “Dynamo” Todd heading into the new year, electing to drop superstar first round pick Youssef Ibrahim and engine player Curtis Malik in hopes of rekindling a new roster. Greg Marche and Jeremías Azaña also will return to the draft pool and will look to have major impact on new rosters this season. Holding the first overall pick in the draft, Chicago will have its pick of the litter come Draft day.
Hear what GM Andy McAfee had to say about the Grizzlies comeback season:
“The Chicago Grizzlies have every intention of following the Bears’ lead and making a strong comeback to win our division and make it to the playoffs this season. Due to scheduling challenges for our upcoming matches, we had to drop a number of talented players, but we will use that as an opportunity to make a fresh start in 2026.”
Elaraby and The Freedom Part Ways
In a head turning move, The Philadelphia Freedom have decided to drop top-10 talent Rowan Elaraby from their championship roster and will keep the rest of the squad intact for the title defense. Elaraby missed most of the 2025 season with a foot injury but still made quite an impact for the Freedom in her first appearance for the 2025 NSL Champions. The Freedom will look to add more talent in the Draft to compliment the strengths of their superstars Olivia Weaver and 2025 Finals MVP Melissa Alves, with offensive mastermind Catalina Pelaez staying on the roster as well.
Nashville Heads in a New Direction
Another shock in the keeper list report was Nashville, who finished runners up in the first ever NSL Championship and crashed out of playoff contention last season. Head Coach Dylan Cunningham and Owner Jonathan Dyke have decided to re-roll the dice ahead of the 2026 draft, dropping their first and second round picks Timothy Brownell and Baptiste Masotti. Nashville will keep team stalwart Ronald Palomino and the newly acquired Moustafa Elsirty as the heart of their roster as they search for new top end talent in the draft, holding the 4th overall pick.
The Lightning Stay Pat
The Philadelphia Lighting are keeping the band together, electing to keep their starting three of Marwan ElShorbagy (2025 Finals MVP), Mohamed Abouelghar and Nathan Lake while dropping recently retired British engine player Charlie Lee. With the move, Philly maintains their 4th round pick and will look to add depth to their bench alongside American Salim Khan, who proved pivotal in holding off Mostafa Asal and the Greenwich Panthers last season to secure Philly the final playoff spot in their last match. Team Co-Owner and Pennsylvania native BG Lemmon when asked about his team’s roster decisions stated, “Why fix what’s not broken? The League has to adjust to us and our team, and we feel equipped with whatever come at us.” The Lightning will begin their title defense January 30th in an enticing away match vs the Atlanta Tornados at Atlanta Community Squash.
Dragons Hit the Drawing Board
It is a rebuilding season for the Dragons after a strong 2025 season, which saw them snatch the wildcard spot in the playoffs and narrowly lose out to eventual NSL Champions, the Philadelphia Lightning, in the semi-finals. In a shock move, Head Coach, Patrick Cosquer, has dropped ex-world #1 and World Champion, Mohamed Elshorbagy in search of a new team leader for 2026:
“After careful consideration of our NSL match dates and MES’ PSA commitments in 2026, it became apparent that he wouldn’t be available to play any of our matches. We are grateful for the effort he made and the professionalism he added while with the Dragons and wish him luck wherever he lands next!”
Cosquer elected to keep rising star and PowerPlay player of the season, Finnlay Withington as well as Ramit Tandon, who didn’t feature in a match last season, but was a major player during season 1 for the Dragons.
There are plenty of enticing options up for grabs for these teams looking to re-vamp their rosters at the 2026 Draft in Cleveland, Ohio. Check out the full list of roster moves and updated player pools here.
Men’s Pre-Draft Roster Moves
| Greenwich Panthers | Status |
| Mostafa Asal, EGY | Kept |
| Sanjay Jeeva, MAS | Released |
| Juan Vargas, COL | Kept |
| Dimitri Steinmann, SUI | Kept |
| Diego Gobbi, BRA | Kept |
| Philadelphia Lightning | Status |
| Marwan El Shorbagy, ENG | Kept |
| Mohamed Abouelghar, EGY | Kept |
| Nathan Lake, ENG | Kept |
| Charlie Lee, ENG | Released |
| Salim Khan, USA | Kept |
| Lake Erie Beacons | Status |
| Victor Crouin, FRA | Kept |
| Bernat Jaume, ESP | Kept |
| Yannick Wilhelmi, SUI | Kept |
| Nicholas Spizziri, USA | Kept |
| Daniell Mekbib, CZE | Released |
| Chicago Grizzlies | Status |
| Youssef Ibrahim, EGY | Released |
| Curtis Malik, ENG | Released |
| Gregoire Marche, FRA | Released |
| Sam Todd, ENG | Kept |
| Jeremías Azaña, ARG | Released |
| Newport Dragons | Status |
| Mohamed El Shorbagy, ENG | Released |
| Ramit Tandon, IND | Kept |
| Yahya Elnawasany, EGY | Kept |
| Finnlay Withington, ENG | Kept |
| Abdelrahman Nassar, EGY | Kept |
| Louisville Colts | Status |
| Leonel Cardenas, MEX | Kept |
| Matias Knudsen, COL | Kept |
| Ben Smith, ENG | Released |
| Shahjahan Khan, USA | Released |
| Ahsan Ayaz, PAK | Released |
| Atlanta Tornados | Status |
| Miguel Angel Rodriguez, COL | Kept |
| Veer Chotrani, IND | Released |
| Ibrahim Elkabbani EGY | Released |
| Tom Walsh, ENG | Released |
| Mohamed Sharaf, EGY | Kept |
| Nashville Crushers | Status |
| Timothy Brownell, USA | Released |
| Baptiste Masotti, FRA | Released |
| Moustafa Elsirty, EGY | Kept |
| Ronald Palomino, COL | Kept |
| Joseph White, AUS | Released |
| New York Knights | Status |
| Eain Yow Ng, MAL | Kept |
| Simon Herbert, ENG | Released |
| Rory Stewart, SCO | Kept |
| Dillon Huang, USA | Released |
| Samuel Scherl, USA | Released |
Women’s Pre-Draft Roster Moves
| Philadelphia Freedom | Status |
| Olivia Weaver, USA | Kept |
| Rowan Elaraby, EGY | Released |
| Melissa Alves, FRA | Kept |
| Nicole Bunyan, CAN | Kept |
| Catalina Pelaez, COL | Kept |
| District Inferno (Washington D.C.) | Status |
| Amanda Sobhy, USA | Kept |
| Jasmine Hutton, ENG | Kept |
| Lisa Aitken, SCO | Released |
| Rachel Arnold, MAS | Kept |
| Marie Stephan, FRA | Kept |
| Sono Sharks (South Norwalk, CT) | Status |
| Salma Hany | Kept |
| Marina Stefanoni | Kept |
| Margot Prow | Kept |
| Hana Moatez | Kept |
| Mariam Metwally | Released |
| Lake Erie Beacons (Cleveland, OH) | Status |
| Gina Kennedy | Kept |
| Lucy Beecroft | Kept |
| Hollie Naughton | Kept |
| Alina Bushma | Kept |
| Audrey Berling | Released |
Men’s Draft Player Pool
| Name | Strength | Ranking (Nov 18) |
| Nick Matthew | Experience | HWR #1 |
| Karim Gawad | Deception | 4 |
| Omar Mosaad | Power | HWR 3 |
| Mohamed El Shorbagy | Mentality | 9 |
| Youssef Soliman | Consistency | 10 |
| Mohamad Zakaria | Movement | 11 |
| Baptiste Masotti | Power | 18 |
| Greg Marche | Flexibility | 20 |
| Kareem El Torkey | Consistency | 21 |
| Curtis Malik | Consistency | 22 |
| Timmy Brownell | Creativity | 27 |
| Auguste Dussourd | Toughness | 32 |
| Sebastien Bonmalais | Speed | 28 |
| Nicolas Mueller | Shotmaking | 30 |
| Mohamed ElSherbini | Shotmaking | 37 |
| Noor Zaman | Shotmaking | 38 |
| Nick Wall | Shotmaking | 46 |
| Veer Chotrani | Shotmaking | 51 |
| Mazen Hesham | Shotmaking | 62 |
| Sanjay Jeeva | Shotmaking | 61 |
| Simon Herbert | Accuracy | 59 |
| Shahjahan Khan | Focus | 66 |
| Ivan Perez | Stamina | 67 |
| Tom Walsh | Stamina | 65 |
| Jeremias Azana | Stamina | 81 |
| Asim Khan | Shotmaking | 78 |
| David Bernet | Consistency | 68 |
| Sam Osborne-Wylde | Accuracy | 63 |
| Yassin Elshafei | Shotmaking | 77 |
| Perry Malik | Shotmaking | 73 |
| Ben Smith | Shotmaking | 97 |
| Joseph White | Consistency | 89 |
| Ibrahim Elkabbani | Strength | 109 |
| Elijah Thomas | Consistency | 96 |
| Yannik Omlor | Creativity | 111 |
| Viktor Brutus | Shotmaking | 118 |
| Dillon Huang | Shotmaking | 104 |
| Francesco Marcantonio | Stamina | 115 |
| Ziad Ahmed Ibrahim | Shotmaking | N/A |
| Mohamed Gohar | Stamina | 116 |
| Aly Hussein | Stamina | 130 |
| Spencer Lovejoy | Accuracy | 117 |
| Khaled Labib | Shotmaking | 128 |
| David Baillargeon | Strength | 126 |
| Seif El Shenawy | Consistency | N/A |
| Salah Eltorgman | Deception | 140 |
| Onaopemipo Adegoke | Speed | 164 |
| Andres “Pipe” Herrera | Stamina | 154 |
| Edgar Ramírez Bautista | Shotmaking | 179 |
| Bailey Malik | Quickness | 143 |
| Cesar Corona | Hustle | 162 |
| Lwamba Chileshe | Hustle | 159 |
| Yee Xian Siow | Fitness | 158 |
| Baptiste Bouin | Quickness | >200 |
| Aaron Allpress | Consistency | >200 |
| Charlie Lee | Fitness | >200 |
| Ahsan Ayaz | Quickness | >200 |
| Abdul Aahad Butt | Consistency | >200 |
| Abhishek Agarwal | Quickness | >200 |
| Andrew Douglas | Explosivity | >200 |
| Ali El Toukhy | Shotmaking | >200 |
| Alvin Heumann | Shotmaking | >200 |
| David Turner | Consistency | >200 |
| Dylan Kachur | Quickness | >200 |
| Ahmed Wael | Shotmaking | >200 |
| Harrison Gill | Consistency | >200 |
| Heston Malik | Consistency | >200 |
| Kareem Badawi | Shotmaking | >200 |
| Lewis Anderson | Shotmaking | >200 |
| Matias Lacroix | Speed | >200 |
| Daniel Mekbib | Deception | >200 |
| Nick Sutcliffe | Strength | >200 |
| Sam Scherl | Tactics | >200 |
| TJ Dembinski | Tactics | >200 |
| Vinicius Rodrigues | Shotmaking | >200 |
| Ziad Sakr | Shotmaking | >200 |
Women’s Draft Player Pool
| Name | Strength | Ranking |
| Sivasangari Subramaniam | Speed | 7 |
| Tinne Gilis | Speed | 8 |
| Fayrouz Aboelkheir | Consistency | 9 |
| Farida Mohamed | Accuracy | 15 |
| Nada Abbas | Shotmaking | 13 |
| Rowan El Araby | Accuracy | 19 |
| Tesni Murphy | Deception | 22 |
| Mariam Metwally | Shotmaking | 35 |
| Nour Heikal | Shotmaking | 44 |
| Torrie Malik | Accuracy | 42 |
| Nardine Garas | Shotmaking | 43 |
| Amina Elrihany | Shotmaking | 46 |
| Olivia Clyne | Accuracy | HWR 11 |
| Lisa Aitken | Accuracy | 63 |
| Emilia Soini | Accuracy | 72 |
| Hannah Craig | Consistency | 66 |
| Madeleine Hylland | Accuracy | 73 |
| Saskia Beinhard | Consistency | 74 |
| Yasshimita Jadish Kumar | Shotmaking | 78 |
| Kiera Marshall | Determination | 80 |
| Laila Sedky | Consistency | 86 |
| Asia Harris | Strength | 88 |
| Noa Romero | Movement | 87 |
| Lucia Bautista | Movement | 108 |
| Karina Tyma | Shotmaking | 98 |
| Elise Romba | Movement | >120 |
| Gabriella Csokasi | Consistency | >120 |
| Haley Mendez | Shotmaking | >120 |
| Inepta Hoptin | Shotmaking | >120 |
| Jana Safy | Shotmaking | >120 |
| Kacenka Tykova | Speed | >120 |
| Lara Varma | Speed | >120 |
| Lulu Palacios | Movement | >120 |
| Mariam Kamal | Shotmaking | >120 |
| Menna Nasser | Shotmaking | >120 |
| Nikki Todd | Deception | >120 |
| Sanya Vats | Power | >120 |
| Yoshna Singh | Deception | >120 |
