The Holes in the Kansas City Mavericks 2026 Roster

The day that I am typing this is Tuesday, September 1^st, 2026. The Kansas City Mavericks have just signed defenseman Lleyton Moore. He is a solid defenseman who has experience in the AHL as well as the ECHL, spending the last three seasons with the Tucson Roadrunners. This is the 7 defensemen the Mavericks have added to their roster this offseason, having resigned Hudson Wilson and Jake McLaughlin, trading for Gianfranco Cassaro from Florida and Phip Waugh from Savannah, and signing Nolan Orzeck and Ethan Straky in free agency. Kansas City has been able to bring back production from the forward positions by resigning Jimmy Glynn, Casey Carreau, Lucas Sowder, Tabor Heaslip and Jackson Berezowski. 

2026 Western Finals vs Fort Wayne

In addition, they brought back Nolan Walker, who was part of the 2023-2024 team, Owen Lindmark from the AHL, and Ryan Rosborough from Utah. I have a few concerns about the roster still, however, and it’s not the issues some others have. The defense will be solid this year for sure. Walker brings in some much-needed firepower that was lost by Jutting signing overseas. The biggest issue I have currently with the Kansas City Mavericks 2026 roster is that the Mavericks have only one Left Wing on the roster. 15 players signed; 7 are defensemen, 4 centers, 3 right wings, and 1 left wing in Lucas Sowder. In addition, the only goalie the Mavs signed, Gibson Homer, went back to college. 

Now I know someone will say, “Well, you don’t know who Coachella Valley will send down,” which is true, so let’s look at what the Firebirds roster looks like. 17 forwards, 8 defensemen, and 4 goalies. It is rumored that it will be 18 forwards with former Maverick Jack Randl. Even still, the Firebirds have 29 on the roster; currently, the regular season roster size for the AHL is about 23. 20 skaters and 3 goalies. Meaning if the rumors are true and Jack Randl is a Firebird, Coachella Valley will have 26 skaters on the roster. I highly doubt that 6 skaters will be on the way to Kansas City. More so, this doesn’t solve the bigger issue for the Mavs. Depth on offense.

Even if the Mavericks resign David Cotton and Luke Loheit, that wouldn’t solve the LW issue. Jack Randl and Justin Janicke being sent down to Kansas City, with, like Jakov Novak, would be great, but I’m not counting on it. Thankfully, it looks like Logan Terness will be the new Jack for the Mavs, bouncing back and forth from the AHL to ECHL. That still doesn’t solve the need for another goalie. The good thing is that ECHL roster sizes got increased last year to 21 players, 19 being skaters, but still having 1 Left Wing, no goalies, and 4 centers already is worrisome. I’m sure someone is saying, “Maybe if they sign Cotton, move Walker over to RW and move Casey to the second line, but that’d bump Bear as well, and” It still wouldn’t fix the issue. Resigning Tabor Heaslip and signing Ryan Rosborough may have been a mistake. 

Who knows, maybe Randl, Janicke, and Novak all get sent down, and the Mavs resign Cotton and Loheit, and the lineup looks strong with the lines being Randl-Cotton-Walker, Janicke-Glynn-Carreau Sowder-Lindmark-Berezowski and Novak-Rosborough-Heaslip. I just don’t see it, and I'm not sure what the forwards will look like. That’s what scares me.