2018 MLS SuperDraft Report

MLS Talking Points

Over the weekend the 2018 MLS SuperDraft took place with rounds one and two occurring on Friday, followed by rounds three and four on Sunday via conference call.

The SuperDraft is an annual event in which MLS teams select players from a pool of available footballers. Only players from the American college sports system (the NCAA) are eligible to be drafted. In order to make the draft a level playing field, any expansion club automatically gets the first pick followed by the rest of the league in reverse order so at the other end of the selections MLS Cup winners Toronto FC pick last due to their success the season previous.

As you’ll see the SuperDraft sparks a raft of trades, as an example, Tristan Blackmon at number three was actually selected by D.C. United, but then traded immediately to LAFC.

Here are the selections:

ROUND 1

1. LAFC – Joao Moutinho, Defender – Akron
2. LA Galaxy – Tomas Hilliard-Arce, Defender from Stanford
3. LAFC – Tristan Blackmon, Defender from Univ. of Pacific *LAFC acquired the pick from D.C. United via a trade during SuperDraft weekend ($100k of GAM and $100k of TAM).*
4. FC Dallas – Francis Atuahene, Forward from Michigan *FC Dallas acquired the pick from Montreal via a trade during SuperDraft weekend ($200k of GAM) after Montreal previously acquired the pick from Colorado via a trade.*
5. Chicago Fire – Jon Bakero, Forward from Wake Forest *Chicago acquired the pick from Minnesota via a trade during SuperDraft weekend ($75k of GAM and $100k of TAM and player to be named later).*
6. Orlando City – Chris Mueller, Forward from Wisconsin
7. Minnesota United – Mason Toye, Forward from Indiana *Minnesota acquired the pick from Montreal via a trade during SuperDraft weekend ($150k of TAM).*
8. New England Revolution – Brandon Bye, Defender from Western Michigan Univ. *New England previously acquired the pick from Philadelphia via a trade.*
9. New England Revolution – Mark Segbers, Defender from Wisconsin
10. Chicago Fire – Mo Adams, Midfielder from Syracuse *Chicago acquired the pick from Real Salt Lake via a trade during SuperDraft weekend ($85k of GAM).*
11. FC Dallas – Ema Twumasi, Forward from Wake Forest
12. San Jose Earthquakes – Paul Marie, Defender from Florida International Univ.
13. Sporting Kansas City – Erik Dick, Goalkeeper from Butler
14. Atlanta United – Jon Gallagher, Forward from Notre Dame
15. Minnesota United – Wyatt Omsberg, Defender from Dartmouth *Minnesota acquired the pick from Chicago via a trade during SuperDraft weekend (#5 overall pick).*
16. New York Red Bulls – Brian White, Forward from Duke
17. Vancouver Whitecaps – Justin Fiddes, Defender from Washington
18. Sporting Kansas City – Graham Smith, Defender from Univ. of Denver *Sporting KC previously acquired the pick from Portland via a trade.*
19. New York City FC – Jeff Caldwell, Goalkeeper from Virginia
20. Houston Dynamo – Michael Nelson, Goalkeeper from SMU
21. Columbus Crew – Ben Lundgaard, Goalkeeper from Virginia Tech
22. Seattle Sounders – Alex Roldan, Midfielder from Seattle Univ.
23. Minnesota United – Carter Manley, Defender from Duke *Minnesota acquired the pick from Toronto FC via a trade during SuperDraft weekend ($50k of TAM and 5th pick in 2nd round, #28 overall).*

ROUND 2

1. LAFC – Pol Calvet Planellas, Midfielder from Pitt
2. Colorado Rapids – Alan Winn, Forward from UNC *Colorado previously acquired the pick from LA Galaxy via a trade.*
3. Vancouver Whitecaps – Lucas Stauffer, Defender from Creighton *Vancouver previously acquired the pick from D.C. United via a trade.*
4. Colorado Rapids – Frantzdy Pierrot, Forward from Coastal Carolina Univ.
5. Toronto FC – Tim Kubel, Defender from Louisville *Toronto FC acquired the pick from Minnesota via a trade during SuperDraft weekend (Round 1, Pick #23).*
6.FC Dallas – Mauro Cichero, Forward from SMU *FC Dallas acquired “conditional third-round pick” from Orlando via a trade. Conditions met: 3rd round pick becomes 2nd round pick.*
7. San Jose Earthquakes – Danny Musovski, Forward from UNLV *San Jose previously acquired the pick from Montreal via a trade.*
8. New York Red Bulls – Niko de Vera, Defender from Akron *NY Red Bulls previously acquired the pick from Philadelphia via a trade.*
9. Columbus Crew – Edward Opoku, Forward from Virginia *Columbus previously acquired the pick from New England via a trade.*
10. Real Salt Lake – Ricky Lopez-Espin, Midfielder from Creighton
11. FC Dallas – Chris Lema, Midfielder from Georgetown
12. San Jose Earthquakes – Mohamed Thiaw, Forward from Louisville
13. Atlanta United – Oliver Shannon, Midfielder from Clemson *Atlanta previously acquired the pick from Sporting KC via a trade.*
14. Atlanta United – Gordon Wild, Forward from Maryland
15. Chicago Fire – Diego Campos, Midfielder from Clemson
16. New York Red Bulls – Tom Barlow, Forward from Wisconsin
17. LA Galaxy – Drew Skundrich, Midfielder from Stanford *LA Galaxy previously acquired the pick from Vancouver via a trade.*
18. Minnesota United – Xavier Gomez, Midfielder from Univ. of Nebraska-Omaha *Minnesota previously acquired the pick from Portland via a trade.*
19. New York City FC – AJ Paterson, Defender from Wright State Univ.
20. Houston Dynamo – Mac Steeves, Forward from Providence
21. Columbus Crew – Jake Rozhansky, Midfielder from Maryland
22. Seattle Sounders – Markus Fjortoft, Defender from Duke
23. Toronto FC – Drew Shepherd, Goalkeeper from Western Michigan Univ.

ROUND 3

1. LAFC – Jordan Jones, Forward from Oregon State
2. LA Galaxy – Nate Shultz, Defender from Akron
3. Chicago Fire – Elliott Collier, Forward from Loyola College *Chicago previously acquired the pick from D.C. United via a trade.*
4. Colorado Rapids – Thomas Olsen, Goalkeeper from Univ. of San Diego
5. Real Salt Lake – Pass *Real Salt Lake previously acquired the pick from Minnesota via a trade.*
6. New York City FC – Alex Bumpus, Defender from Kentucky *NYCFC previously acquired the pick from Orlando via a trade.*
7. Montreal Impact – Ken Krolicki, Midfielder from Michigan State
8. Philadelphia Union – Mike Catalano, Midfielder from Wisconsin
9. Philadelphia Union – Aidan Apodaca from California Baptist *Philadelphia previously acquired the pick from New England via a trade.*
10. Real Salt Lake – Pass
11. FC Dallas – Amer Sasivarevic, Midfielder from Grand Canyon Univ.
12. San Jose Earthquakes – Kevin Partida, Midfielder from UNLV
13. Houston Dynamo – Pablo Aguilar, Midfielder from Virginia *Houston previously acquired the pick from Sporting KC via a trade.*
14. Montreal Impact – Pass *Montreal previously acquired “conditional third round” pick from Atlanta via a trade.*
15. Portland Timbers – Caleb Duvernay, Defender from NC State *Portland previously acquired the pick from Chicago via a trade.*
16. Vancouver Whitecaps – Cory Brown, Defender from Xavier *Vancouver previously acquired the pick from NY Red Bulls via a trade.*
17. Portland Timbers – Tim Mueller, Forward from Oregon State *Portland previously acquired the pick from Real Salt Lake via a trade, after Real Salt Lake originally acquired the pick from Vancouver via a trade.*
18. Portland Timbers – Stuart Holthusen, Forward from Akron
19. New York City FC – Pass
20. Houston Dynamo – Sheldon Sullivan, Defender from Virginia
21. Columbus Crew – Luis Argudo, Midfielder from Wake Forest
22. Seattle Sounders – Chris Bared, Defender from Villanova
23. Toronto FC – Andre Morrison, Defender from Hartford

ROUND 4

1. Atlanta United – Paul Christensen, Goalkeeper from Univ. of Portland *Atlanta previously acquired the pick from LAFC via a trade.*
2. D.C. United – Afonso Pinheiro, Forward from Univ. of Albany *D.C. United previously acquired the pick from LA Galaxy via a trade.*
3. Colorado Rapids – Brian Iloski, Midfielder from UCLA *Colorado previously acquired the pick from D.C. United via a trade.*
4. Colorado Rapids – Niki Jackson, Forward from Grand Canyon Univ.
5. D.C. United – Rafael Andrade Santos, Midfielder from Virginia Commonwealth Univ. *D.C. United previously acquired the pick from Minnesota via a trade.*
6. Sporting Kansas City – Will Bagrou, Forward from Mercer *Sporting KC previously acquired the pick from Orlando via a trade.*
7. Montreal Impact – Excluded due to Round 3 pass
8. Philadelphia Union – Matt Danilack, Midfielder from Dartmouth
9. New England Revolution – Nicolas Samayoa, Defender from Florida Gulf Coast Univ.
10. Real Salt Lake – Excluded due to Round 3 pass
11. FC Dallas – Noah Franke, Defender from Creighton
12. San Jose Earthquakes – Pass
13. Sporting Kansas City – Wilfred Williams, Defender from Oakland Univ.
14. New York Red Bulls – Jared Stroud, Midfielder from Colgate *NY Red Bulls previously acquired the pick from Atlanta via a trade.*
15. Chicago Fire – Josh Morton, Defender from California
16. New York Red Bulls – Jose Aguinaga, Forward from Rider
17. Vancouver Whitecaps – Pass
18. Portland Timbers – Mamadou Guirassy, Forward from NJIT
19. New York City FC – Excluded due to Round 3 pass
20. Houston Dynamo – Manny Padilla, Defender from Univ. of San Francisco
21. LA Galaxy – Pass *LA Galaxy previously acquired the pick from Columbus via a trade.*
22. D.C. United – Pass *D.C. United previously acquired the pick from Seattle via a trade.*
23. Toronto FC – Ben White, Defender from Gonzaga

Some of the more interesting stories see expansion franchise LAFC select Generation adidas (GA) defender Joao Moutinho from Akron as the No. 1 overall pick in the 2018 MLS SuperDraft before trading into the No. 3 slot to add Pacific fullback Tristan Blackmon.

Portuguese 20-year-old Moutinho played for the Sporting Lisbon academy through the Under-19 level before traversing the Atlantic to play at national powerhouse Akron. Moutinho scored 3 goals and made 5 assists in 24 games, earning recognition as a USC First Team All-America as well as Freshman of the Year for both TopDrawerSoccer and the Mid-American Conference.

The second pick, defender Tomas Hilliard-Arce of Stanford, is also headed to Los Angeles, where he’ll play for the rival LA Galaxy. A Charlotte, North Carolina product, Hilliard-Arce played four years for the Cardinal, winning three NCAA championships and ultimately finishing second in the 2017 MAC Hermann Trophy voting, along with USC First Team All-America and PAC-12 Conference Player of the Year recognition, capping it as College Cup Defensive Most Outstanding Player.

With the third pick came the first deal, as D.C. United sent a third straight player to the City of Angels, as United selected Blackmon on behalf of LAFC in exchange for $100,000 in General Allocation Money (GAM) and $100,000 in Targeted Allocation Money (TAM). Blackmon shot up the draft board, having entered the draft as a four-year senior from Pacific whose career culminated with West Coast Conference Defender of the Year recognition.

When given the opportunity to speak and thank the club who drafted him, Brandon Bye forgot what team selected him the 2018 SuperDraft and had to look down at his scarf. First impressions and all that…