Another wave of players were enrolled in Major League Soccer on Thursday, as the 2016 MLS SuperDraft unfolded in Baltimore.
Over the course of three hours, 40 players from a pool of 250 eligible footballers were selected, a number of whom are part of the 2016 Generation Adidas class. There were trades. There were timeouts. There was everything that makes MLS the unique league that it is.
Here are five takeaways from the 2016 MLS SuperDraft:
Chicago Fire do things differently
The Chicago Fire were all over the place in the opening minutes of the draft.
After holding on to the first overall pick, the Fire surprised everyone by selecting Jack Harrison instead of Joshua Yaro, whose name was widely expected to be the first called out by MLS commissioner Don Garber. Then the Fire surprised everyone again, trading Harrison to New York City FC for allocation money and the draft's fourth overall pick.
Related: Chicago takes Jack Harrison 1st overall in SuperDraft, trades him to New York City FC
It wasn't the road most people assumed the Fire would take, but Chicago clearly had a plan going into the draft and stuck to its guns.
Generation Adidas players are popular as ever
If it wasn't already clear, the draft stressed just how much clubs love selecting Generation Adidas players who don't count against the salary budget.
All seven players who entered the draft from the 2016 Generation Adidas class were chosen within the first 13 selections, and the Philadelphia Union snapped up three of them. They include:
- Jack Harrison, 1st overall, Chicago Fire
- Joshua Yaro, 2nd overall, Philadelphia Union
- Omar Holness, 5th overall, Real Salt Lake
- Fabian Herbers, 6th overall, Philadelphia Union
- Richmond Laryea, 7th overall, Orlando City SC
- Andrew Tarbell, 8th overall, San Jose Earthquakes
- Hadji Barry, 13th overall, Orlando City SC
MLS clubs love trading
The draft's headache-inducing first round featured seven trades, many of which were announced between selections. Keeping track of who was going where was no easy task for those unfamiliar with the crop of youngsters, but the constant movement demonstrated that MLS clubs value allocation money and what it allows for above the quality of the players available in the draft.
Colorado wanted the No. 1 spot in the Allocation Rankings
By virtue of a trade with the Fire, the Colorado Rapids acquired the No. 1 spot in the Allocation Rankings. That's the system used to allocate players from the U.S. Men's National Team (USMNT), elite U.S. Youth National Team players, and players transferred outside of MLS garnering a transfer fee of at least $50,000.
The Rapids' desire to take top spot in the rankings comes as no surprise given reports that claim the club is targeting Alejandro Bedoya, a member of the USMNT who's featuring at FC Nantes.
Canadian clubs weren't keen to prosper
After a 2015 MLS season in which the Vancouver Whitecaps, the Montreal Impact, and Toronto FC all experienced moderate success, the league's three Canadian clubs went into the draft with little to gain.
Toronto selected Tsubasa Endoh ninth overall, the Montreal Impact selected Kyle Fisher 14th overall, and Vancouver selected Cole Seiler 16th overall. None of the picks were all that exciting, and it's entirely possible that all three see very limited playing time in 2016.
