NACL - Pre-Season Rankings (TOP 8)

Welcome to the North American Championship League! The league will feature some of the best 6v6 teams in North America, hence the very accurate league name.  This season of NACL has a $4,000 prize pool and featured an individual team buy-in of $200 USD. 

Before starting it’s important to give some information on the current structure of the league. There are 15 teams participating in this season, and each week we’ll be publishing a power ranking featuring our top 8 teams going into that week. This week we’ve highlighted some key additions, removals and a particular player to watch. This article was written before the season puck drop, but released just after the first round of action.

1) Entourage

Key Additions: @Revv, @l JLP l, @Briere
Key Removals: None
Week 1, Player to Watch: @JClaus33

Notes: The CapsGaming Showcase Champions! Entourage was able to win the first-ever NHL 6s tournament hosted by an NHL affiliated team. In doing so they take home the top spot on our NACL Pre-Season Power Rankings, despite their championship hangover in S13 of ESHL. Adding backup goalie Revy will give the team some stability if / when @Scheckel29is unable to make games, and adding utilities JLP and Briere will give the team both depth and versatility when needing substitutions during the season.

2) Vertigo

Key Additions: None
Key Removals: None
Week 1, Player to Watch: @P t P 10

Notes: Vertigo has been no joke early on, as they’re off to a hot start in S13 of ESHL and look to carry that success over into NACL this season. This team is a former shell of the team Legacy and is led by both @ScaryJoeyyand @Gwan. Several rostered players were featured in the dramatic overtime of the first-ever Game 25 of the annual CanAm tournament (Gwan and P t P for Team Canada, and @CaLL Me Jakoo, @Soy los 19 and ScaryJoeyy for Team USA).
 

3) Hidden Potential

Key Additions: @YungGren, @r0tes, and @Thibodd
Key Removals: @Dings16
Week 1, Player to Watch: @Auggy

Notes: Hidden Potential came home from the CapsGaming Showcase, but not as champions. HP got swept in the finals by Entourage in convincing fashion but took an incredible leap forward from S12 ESHL. The core of the team for this tournament remains the same for the most part, with the only change being YungGren replacing Dings. Key members of Resilience (Rotes and newcomer Thibodd) have also joined the roster along with Dangs and Remi to serve as utilities throughout the tournament. 

4) Phantoms

Key Additions: Second Roster
Key Removals: None
Week 1, Player to Watch: TBD

Phantoms will serve as a combination team consisting of members between The Underdogs and Phantoms. Both teams had great runs in the CapsGaming showcase, and their roster will definitely benefit from being able to pick and choose which lines play each opponent throughout the duration of this tournament. The Phantoms were able to make the final LAN as one of the remaining four teams in the tournament, and The Underdogs were one game shy of reaching themselves. We don’t expect to see many mix and match style lineups, but do look for this team to match opposing teams lineups, and play the ‘hot line’ down the stretch and through playoffs if they make it.

5) Composure

Key Additions: @Hart x l79l, @TheCreasePolice (ESHL), and @Trobs
Key Removals: @Foote
Week 1, Player to Watch: @officialmark07

Composure picked up two of the best free-agent goalies available after a disappointing finish in the CapsGaming Showcase. Adding both JMoney (ESHL) and Hart (ESHL and NACL) added more stability and has created some healthy goalie competition between the pipes. Although early returns have been questionable at best in ESHL - look for both goalies (particularly Hart for NACL)  to come into form in the upcoming weeks as the team works through a funk.

6) BBB

Key Additions: @Bert, @Bass, @desyd19 and @Foote
Key Removals: @Grim
Week 1, Player to Watch: @Bones

BBB did a great job reuniting with former teammate Bert (FlowMaster Joe). Bert was a key part of the core that won several ESHL championships with BBB in NHL 19. The team also did a great job adding reliable utilities in acquiring forward Bass19, defenseman Desy, and goalie Foote (S12 ESHL winning G). Foote and Perri both played for Composure just a few short months ago, and now both find themselves on BBB sharing the net once again.    

7) 6th Sense

Key Additions: @TheGreatMP7 , @Vaporize 17 and @Seb TopG (General420)
Key Removals: None
Week 1, Player to Watch: Vaporize 17

6th Sense has been retooled for success in the upcoming NACL by adding both GreatMP7 (Dahlia) and Vaporize (Infinity). On top of that, they’ve added one of the better free agent goalies in General420, who has already captured an impressive early record of 6-1-1 featuring an 83.3 S% and a GAA of 1.36 in S13 of ESHL.

8) Montage Moment

Key Additions: @NugeTV, @OFs, and @Girgss
Key Removals: None
Week 1, Player to Watch: @Nasher

Here we are with the most ambitious pre-season ranking on this whole list! The new image Montage Moment is here, but are they here to stay? Out of the gate with an impressive start of 8-1-1 in S13 of ESHL, this team has already caught many by surprise by splitting a two-game series with Vertigo (NACL: Pre-season Ranked 2nd) and a two-game sweep of Composure (NACL: Pre-season Ranked 5th). Montage Moment made a huge splash this off-season by signing three players with top-end 6s experience, headlined by streamer Nuge. Nuge and Girgs were also teammates in the CapsGaming Showcase as members of Infinity. 
 

Did we get the TOP 8 right? How does your ranking look? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.