2022 MLS SuperDraft
College draft for soccer teams
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The 2022 MLS SuperDraft was the 23rd edition of the SuperDraft conducted by Major League Soccer. The SuperDraft is held every January prior to the start of the MLS season and has been conducted via conference calls since 2020.[1] Previously, the SuperDraft had been held in conjunction with the annual January United Soccer Coaches convention.
| 2022 MLS SuperDraft | |
|---|---|
| |
| General information | |
| Sport | Soccer |
| Date | January 11, 2022 |
| Overview | |
| 79 total selections in 3 rounds | |
| League | Major League Soccer |
| Teams | 28 |
| First selection | Ben Bender, Charlotte FC |
| Most selections | Vancouver Whitecaps FC (5) |
Since 2021, the SuperDraft consists of three rounds. Teams that received fourth-round picks for this draft via past trades received compensatory picks instead.[2] Of the 75 players selected in the SuperDraft, 28 were signed by MLS teams—most of them from the first round picks.[3]
Format
The SuperDraft format has remained constant throughout its history and closely resembles that of the NFL draft:
- Any expansion teams receive the first picks. MLS has announced that Charlotte FC[4] would begin play as an expansion team in 2022. Sacramento Republic and St. Louis City SC[5] were about to debut that year, but MLS delayed St. Louis's start to 2023 instead, and the league's expansion to Sacramento was withheld indefinitely.
- Non-playoff clubs receive the next picks in reverse order of prior season finish.
- Teams that made the MLS Cup Playoffs are then ordered by which round of the playoffs they are eliminated.
- The winners of the MLS Cup are given the last selection, and the losers the penultimate selection.
Player selection
| Player key | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| * | Denotes player who has been selected for an MLS Best XI team | ||||||||||
| ^ | Member of 2022 Generation Adidas class | ||||||||||
| † | Player who was named to an MLS Best XI and Generation Adidas | ||||||||||
| Signed key | |||||||||||
| 29 | Denotes player who signed for a MLS team (Division I) | ||||||||||
| 16 | Denotes player who signed for a USL Championship team (Division II) | ||||||||||
| 28 | Denotes player who signed for a MLS Next Pro, USL League One or NISA team (Division III) | ||||||||||
| 2 | Denotes player who signed for a team outside the United States soccer league system | ||||||||||
| Positions key | |||||||||||
| GK | Goalkeeper | DF | Defender | MF | Midfielder | FW | Forward | ||||
Round 1
Round 2
Round 3
Compensatory picks
| P | MLS team | Player | Pos. | College | Conference | Academy team | Other team | Signed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 85 | Chicago Fire FC [Trade 1] |  Yanis Leerman |
DF | UCF | American | Troyes | N/a |  Loudoun United |
| 86 | Vancouver Whitecaps FC [Trade 2] |  Vitor Dias |
MF | Marshall | C-USA | São Paulo | N/a | St. Louis City 2 |
| 87 | FC Dallas [Trade 3] | Holland Rula |
DF | Wake Forest | ACC | FC Dallas | N/a | |
| 88 | Atlanta United FC [Trade 4] |  Tola Showunmi |
FW | New Hampshire | America East | Cheshunt | N/a | Pittsburgh Riverhounds |
| 89 | San Jose Earthquakes [Trade 5] | PASS | N/a | N/a | N/a | N/a | N/a | N/a |
Notable undrafted players
Undrafted
| Player | Nat. | Position | College | Team | League |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kyle Hiebert |  |
DF | Missouri State Bears | St. Louis City 2 | MLS Next Pro |
Homegrown players
| Original MLS team | Player | Position | College | Conference | Notes | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Atlanta United FC | Justin Garces |
GK | UCLA | Pac-12 | [24] | |
| Columbus Crew | Jake Morris |
DF | Campbell | Big South | ||
| Columbus Crew | Sean Zawadzki |
MF | Georgetown | Big East | ||
| New York Red Bulls | Zach Ryan |
MF | Stanford | Pac-12 | [25] | |
| Seattle Sounders FC | Dylan Teves |
MF | Washington | Pac-12 |
Eligible players who signed outside of MLS in 2021
This is a list of eligible players who signed in leagues outside of MLS prior to the SuperDraft, but were still draft eligible.
| Player | Nat. | Position | College | Conference | Team | League | Notes | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Haji Abdikadir |  |
MF | Louisville | ACC | San Diego Loyal | USL Championship | Traded to Colorado Springs Switchbacks | [26] |
| Giovanni Aguilar | |
MF | CSUN | Big West | Sacramento Republic | USL Championship | Drafted by Vancouver Whitecaps FC and subsequently transferred to Whitecaps FC 2 | [27][28] |
| Frank Daroma |  |
MF | Cal State Bernardino | CCAA | Las Vegas Lights | USL Championship | Undrafted | [29] |
| Michael Knapp | |
MF | Montclair | NJAC | New York Red Bulls II | USL Championship | Drafted by Austin FC | [30] |
| Roberto Molina |  |
MF | UC Irvine | Big West | Las Vegas Lights | USL Championship | Drafted by Colorado Rapids | [31] |
Summary
Selections by college athletic conference
| Conference | Round 1 | Round 2 | Round 3 | Comp. | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NCAA Division I conferences | |||||
| ACC | 6 | 6 | 6 | 1 | 19 |
| America East | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| American | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 3 |
| ASUN | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| A-10 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 7 |
| Big East | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 5 |
| Big Ten | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 6 |
| Big West | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| CAA | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Conference USA | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| Ivy | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Mid-American | 1 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 5 |
| NEC | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Pac-12 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 10 |
| Patriot | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| SoCon | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| WAC | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 6 |
| WCC | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 |
| NCAA Division III conference | |||||
| NJAC | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Passes | |||||
| Pass | 0 | 1 | 8 | 1 | 10 |
Schools with multiple draft selections
| Selections | Schools |
|---|---|
| 6 | Clemson, Saint Louis |
| 5 | Washington |
| 3 | Notre Dame, St. John's |
| 2 | Akron, Duke, Grand Canyon, Marshall, Maryland, NIU, Oregon State, Penn State, Pittsburgh, UCF, UCLA, Wake Forest |
2022 SuperDraft trades
- Round 1
- No. 3: Toronto → Dallas. January 10, 2022: Dallas acquired Toronto FC's first-round selection and Dom Dwyer in exchange for $50,000 in general allocation money and buying out Dwyer's contract.[6]
- No. 10: Los Angeles FC → Colorado → Nashville. July 27, 2021: Colorado acquired a 2022 first-round selection and midfielder Mark-Anthony Kaye from Los Angeles FC in exchange for $1 million in 2021 general allocation money and a 2022 international roster slot. On January 11, 2022, Colorado traded the pick to Nashville SC in exchange for general allocation money.[8]
- No. 14: LA Galaxy → Cincinnati. April 8, 2021: Cincinnati acquired a 2022 first-round selection and $250,000 in 2021 general allocation money from the LA Galaxy in exchange for the discovery rights to winger Kévin Cabral.[9]
- No. 21: Nashville → LA Galaxy. December 12, 2021: LA Galaxy acquired Nashville's first-round selection in exchange for Ethan Zubak.[10]
- No. 25: Salt Lake → Columbus. January 11, 2022: Columbus acquired Real Salt Lake's first-round selection in exchange for $50,000 in general allocation money.[7]
- No. 26: Philadelphia → Nashville → Colorado. January 19, 2021: Nashville acquired a 2022 first-round selection and 2021 second- and third-round selections from Philadelphia in exchange for up to $225,000 of general allocation money. On January 11, 2022, the pick was traded to Colorado for general allocation money.[11]
- No. 28: NY City FC → Dallas. January 11, 2022: New York City FC traded the pick to FC Dallas in exchange for $50,000 in general allocation money.[11]
- Round 2
- No. 38: Los Angeles FC → Nashville. February 26, 2020: Nashville acquired a 2022 second-round selection, $350,000 in combined 2020 and 2021 general allocation money, and the No. 24 spot in the MLS Allocation Order from Los Angeles FC in exchange for the No. 1 spot in the Allocation Order. The traded pick was LAFC's natural selection.[12]
- No. 45: Minnesota → Colorado. September 19, 2020: Colorado acquired a 2022 second-round selection and $150,000 in 2020 general allocation money from Minnesota in exchange for forward Kei Kamara.[13]
- No. 49: Nashville → Vancouver. November 26, 2019: Vancouver acquired a 2022 second-round selection and the No. 25 selection in Stage One of the 2019 MLS Re-Entry Draft from Nashville SC in exchange for the No. 2 selection in the same stage of that Re-Entry Draft. Nashville used the No. 2 pick to select defender Eric Miller. The traded pick was Nashville's natural selection.[14]
- No. 54: Philadelphia → Miami. December 23, 2021: Inter Miami acquired a 2022 second-round selection from Philadelphia in exchange for forward Julián Carranza on loan with a purchase option.[15]
- Round 3
- No. 60: Houston → LA Galaxy. December 12, 2021: LA Galaxy acquired a 2022 third-round selection from Houston in exchange for defender Daniel Steres.[16]
- No. 66: Los Angeles FC → Dallas. March 9, 2021: Dallas acquired a 2022 third-round selection and additional incentives, if certain performance thresholds are met, from the Los Angeles FC in exchange for forward Cal Jennings and his college protected list rights.[17]
- No. 73: Minnesota → NY Red Bulls. April 30, 2021: The Red Bulls acquired a 2022 third-round selection from Minnesota in exchange for the homegrown player rights to midfielder Aziel Jackson.[18]
- Compensatory picks
- No. 85: Charlotte → Chicago. December 18, 2020: Charlotte and Chicago swapped fourth-round selections in exchange for Charlotte's acquisition of midfielder Brandt Bronico.[19] The pick acquired from Chicago was not exercised.
- No. 86: Miami → Vancouver. September 5, 2019: Vancouver acquired a conditional 2022 selection from Inter Miami in exchange for midfielder David Norman Jr.[20]
- No. 87: Minnesota → Dallas. December 13, 2020: FC Dallas acquired a 2022 fourth-round selection and up to $50,000 of general allocation money from Minnesota in exchange for the MLS rights to defender Callum Montgomery.[21]