The 2017 MLS SuperDraft was the eighteenth SuperDraft conducted by Major League Soccer. The SuperDraft is held each year in conjunction with the annual National Soccer Coaches Association of America convention. The first two rounds of the 2017 SuperDraft were held in Los Angeles, California on January 13, 2017, as part of the NSCAA 2017 convention. Rounds three and four were held via conference call on January 17, 2017.
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 Atlanta United FC and Minnesota United FC will begin play in 2017. As determined by a "Priority Draft" conducted on October 16, 2016, Minnesota received the first overall selection and Atlanta picked second. Non-playoff clubs received the next picks in reverse order of prior season finish. Teams that made the MLS Cup Playoffs were then ordered by which round of the playoffs they were eliminated. The winners of the MLS Cup were given the last selection, and the losers the penultimate selection.
Player selection
* Denotes player who has been selected for an MLS Best XI team
Round 1 Any player marked with a * is part of the Generation Adidas program.
Pick # MLS team Player Position College PDL or NPSL affiliation Signed 1 Minnesota United FC Abu Danladi* Forward UCLA Ventura County Fusion Minnesota United FC 2 Atlanta United FC Miles Robinson* Defender Syracuse FC Boston Atlanta United FC 3 New York City FC Jonathan Lewis* Forward Akron New York City FC 4 Portland Timbers Jeremy Ebobisse* Forward Duke D.C. United U-23 Portland Timbers 5 Columbus Crew SC Lalas Abubakar Defender Dayton Michigan Bucks Columbus Crew SC 6 San Jose Earthquakes Jackson Yueill* Midfielder UCLA San Jose Earthquakes 7 Vancouver Whitecaps FC Jake Nerwinski Defender Connecticut Vancouver Whitecaps FC 8 Atlanta United FC Julian Gressel Midfielder Providence Atlanta United FC 9 Columbus Crew SC Niko Hansen Forward New Mexico Seattle Sounders U-23 Columbus Crew SC 10 Houston Dynamo Joe Holland Midfielder Hofstra Ventura County Fusion Houston Dynamo 11 Chicago Fire Daniel Johnson Midfielder Louisville Portland Timbers U23s Chicago Fire 12 D.C. United Chris Odoi-Atsem Defender Maryland D.C. United 13 Real Salt Lake Reagan Dunk Defender Denver Real Salt Lake 14 Sporting Kansas City Colton Storm Defender North Carolina Portland Timbers U23s Sporting Kansas City 15 Colorado Rapids Sam Hamilton Midfielder Denver Colorado Rapids 16 New York City FC Kwame Awuah Midfielder Connecticut Sigma FC New York City FC 17 New York Red Bulls Zeiko Lewis Midfielder Boston College Real Boston Rams New York Red Bulls 18 FC Dallas Jacori Hayes Midfielder Wake Forest Portland Timbers U23s FC Dallas 19 Montreal Impact Nick DePuy Forward UC Santa Barbara Ventura County Fusion Montreal Impact 20 New England Revolution Brian Wright Forward Vermont Burlingame Dragons New England Revolution 21 Toronto FC Brandon Aubrey Defender Notre Dame Toronto FC 22 Seattle Sounders FC Brian Nana-Sinkam Defender Stanford Burlingame Dragons Seattle Sounders FC 2
Round 1 trades
Round 2 Any player marked with a * is part of the Generation Adidas program.
Pick # MLS team Player Position College PDL or NPSL affiliation Signed 23 Minnesota United FC Alec Ferrell Goalkeeper Wake Forest Carolina Dynamo Unsigned 24 Colorado Rapids Liam Callahan Defender Syracuse K-W United New York Cosmos B 25 Philadelphia Union Marcus Epps Midfielder South Florida Chicago Fire U-23 Philadelphia Union 26 Chicago Fire Stefan Cleveland Goalkeeper Louisville Dayton Dutch Lions Chicago Fire 27 Chicago Fire Guillermo Delgado Forward Delaware Seattle Sounders U-23 RGVFC Toros 28 San Jose Earthquakes Lindo Mfeka Midfielder South Florida Reading United San Jose Earthquakes 29 Vancouver Whitecaps FC Francis de Vries Defender Saint Francis (PA) Michigan Bucks Whitecaps FC 2 30 Houston Dynamo Jake McGuire Goalkeeper Tulsa Portland Timbers U23s Philadelphia Union 31 New England Revolution Napo Matsoso Midfielder Kentucky Derby City Rovers Louisville City FC 32 Portland Timbers Michael Amick Defender UCLA FC Golden State Force Portland Timbers 2 33 Philadelphia Union Aaron Jones Defender Clemson Carolina Dynamo Philadelphia Union 34 D.C. United Eric Klenofsky Goalkeeper Monmouth New York Red Bulls U-23 D.C. United 35 Real Salt Lake Justin Schmidt Defender Washington Washington Crossfire Real Salt Lake 36 Houston Dynamo Danilo Radjen Defender Akron West Virginia Chaos New York Cosmos B 37 FC Dallas Walker Hume Defender North Carolina Portland Timbers U23s FC Dallas 38 New York City FC Jalen Brown Forward Xavier Des Moines Menace Rochester Rhinos 39 New York Red Bulls Ethan Kutler Forward Colgate Michigan Bucks New York Red Bulls II 40 FC Dallas Adonijah Reid* Forward ANB Futbol FC Dallas 41 Montreal Impact Shamit Shome* Midfielder FC Edmonton Montreal Impact 42 Minnesota United FC Thomas de Villardi Defender Delaware New York Red Bulls U-23 Minnesota United FC 43 D.C. United Jo Vetle Rimstad Defender Radford Gran IL 44 Seattle Sounders FC Dominic Oduro Defender FC Nordsjælland FC Golden State Force
Round 2 trades
Round 3 Any player marked with a * is part of the Generation Adidas program.
Pick # MLS team Player Position College PDL or NPSL affiliation Signed 45 Colorado Rapids Jaime Siaj Forward Pfeiffer Charlotte Eagles Charlotte Independence 46 Atlanta United FC Andrew Wheeler-Omiunu Midfielder Harvard Seattle Sounders FC U-23 Atlanta United FC 47 Chicago Fire Brandt Bronico Midfielder Charlotte Carolina Dynamo Chicago Fire 48 Real Salt Lake Andrew Putna Goalkeeper UIC Chicago Fire U-23 Real Monarchs 49 Columbus Crew SC Connor Maloney Defender Penn State Reading United Columbus Crew SC 50 San Jose Earthquakes Christian Thierjung Forward California Burlingame Dragons New York Cosmos B 51 Vancouver Whitecaps FC Jorge Gómez Midfielder Temple Puerta Bonita 52 Toronto FC Robert Moewes Goalkeeper Duke IMG Academy Bradenton SC Westfalia Herne 53 FC Dallas Austin Ledbetter Defender SIU Edwardsville Des Moines Menace Saint Louis FC 54 New York City FC Chris Wingate Midfielder New Hampshire Seattle Sounders U-23 Bethlehem Steel 55 Philadelphia Union Chris Nanco Forward Syracuse Sigma FC Bethlehem Steel 56 Seattle Sounders FC Bakie Goodman Midfielder Georgetown IMG Academy Bradenton Detroit City FC 57 Real Salt Lake PASS 58 Sporting Kansas City David Greczek Goalkeeper Rutgers Jersey Express Swope Park Rangers 59 FC Dallas Dakota Barnathan Midfielder VCU Portland Timbers U23s Swope Park Rangers 60 New York City FC Michael DeGraffenriedt Defender Louisville Baltimore Bohemians Nashville SC 61 New York Red Bulls Jordan Scarlett Defender Iona Lehigh Valley United New York Red Bulls II 62 FC Dallas Wuilito Fernandes Forward UMass Lowell Orange County SC 63 Montreal Impact PASS 64 Orlando City SC Danny Deakin Midfielder South Carolina Detroit City FC Orlando City SC 65 Toronto FC Øyvind Alseth Midfielder Syracuse K-W United Toronto FC 66 Seattle Sounders FC Jake Stovall Defender Wright State Cincinnati Dutch Lions Puerto Rico FC
Round 3 trades
Round 4 Any player marked with a * is part of the Generation Adidas program.
Pick # MLS team Player Position College PDL or NPSL affiliation Signed 67 Minnesota United FC Tanner Thompson Midfielder Indiana Indy Eleven 68 Atlanta United FC Alex KappGoalkeeper Creighton Minnesota United FC 69 Chicago Fire Matej DekovicDefender Charlotte Chicago Fire 70 Houston Dynamo Robby SagelDefender Penn State Reading United RGVFC Toros 71 Columbus Crew SC Logan KettererGoalkeeper Bradley Ocean City Nor'easters Columbus Crew SC 72 San Jose Earthquakes Auden SchilderGoalkeeper Washington Washington Crossfire Unsigned 73 Vancouver Whitecaps FC Nazeem BartmanForward South Florida Michigan Bucks Whitecaps FC 2 74 Real Salt Lake PASS 75 New England Revolution Joshua Smith Defender San Francisco Burlingame Dragons New England Revolution 76 Portland Timbers Russell CiceroneMidfielder Buffalo Michigan Bucks Portland Timbers 2 77 Philadelphia Union Jack Elliott Defender West Virginia South Florida Surf Philadelphia Union 78 D.C. United PASS 79 Real Salt Lake PASS 80 Portland Timbers Romilio HernandezMidfielder Louisville Portland Timbers U23s Phoenix Rising 81 LA Galaxy PASS 82 Philadelphia Union Santi MoarForward Pfeiffer Charlotte Eagles Bethlehem Steel 83 Toronto FC Lars Eckenrode Defender Michigan D.C. United U-23 Toronto FC II 84 FC Dallas Marco CarrizalesMidfielder Furman Unsigned 85 Montreal Impact PASS 86 Colorado Rapids Peguy NgatchaForward Wright State Cincinnati Dutch Lions 87 Toronto FC Juan Pablo SaavedraDefender Virginia Tech Unsigned 88 Seattle Sounders FC Kyle BjornethunDefender Seattle Seattle Sounders FC U-23 Portland Timbers 2
Round 4 trades
Other 2017 SuperDraft Trade Notes On January 18, 2016, Colorado Rapids acquired a conditional first-round selection in the 2017 SuperDraft, a third-round selection in the 2016 MLS SuperDraft, and targeted allocation money from Toronto FC in exchange for goalkeeper Clint Irwin. Through January 5, 2017, the MLSSoccer.com 2017 SuperDraft page stated that Colorado had acquired the first-round pick from Toronto. Effective January 6, 2017, the MLSSoccer.com website stated that Toronto maintained this pick. No explanation was provided for the change. On May 4, 2016, Columbus Crew SC acquired a second-round selection in the 2017 SuperDraft from Chicago Fire in exchange for the MLS rights to midfielder Khaly Thiam. However, trade terms stated that should Thiam start 12 or more MLS regular-season games in 2016 the SuperDraft pick would be converted to General Allocation Money. Thiam met this threshold and Columbus received General Allocation Money.
Notable undrafted players Homegrown players
Original MLS teamPlayerPositionCollegeConferenceNotesColorado RapidsKortne FordDefenderDenverSummitColorado RapidsRicardo PerezMidfielderCreightonBig EastColumbus CrewAlex CrognaleDefenderMarylandBig TenD.C. UnitedIan HarkesMidfielderWake ForestACCFC DallasReggie CannonDefenderUCLAPac-12New York Red BullsArun BasuljevicMidfielderGeorgetownBig EastNew York Red BullsEvan LouroGoalkeeperMichiganBig TenReal Salt LakeJosé HernándezMidfielderUCLAPac-12San Jose EarthquakesNick LimaDefenderCaliforniaPac-12Seattle Sounders FCSeyi AdekoyaForwardUCLAPac-12Seattle Sounders FCHenry WingoMidfielderWashingtonPac-12Toronto FCSergio CamargoMidfielderSyracuseACC
Players who signed outside of MLS
PlayerPositionCollegeConferenceTeamLeagueNotesSam BrothertonDefenderWisconsinBig TenSunderlandPremier League
Summary Selections by college athletic conference ConferenceRound 1Round 2Round 3Round 4Total NCAA Division I conferencesAmerica East10203The American23117ACC754218Atlantic 1010102Big East31116Big South01001Big Ten10236West Coast10001CAA12003Conference USA11215Horizon00213Ivy00101Mid-American11024MAAC01102MVC00112Northeast01001Pac-1232117Patriot01001SoCon00011Summit20002WAC00011West Coast00011 Non-Division I conferencesConference Carolinas00112 Non-NCAA Non-College SelectionsDanish Superliga01001L1001001NASL01001Pass00246
Schools with multiple draft selections SelectionsSchools 4 Louisville, Syracuse 3 UCLA, South Florida 2 Akron, Connecticut, Delaware, Denver, Duke, Penn State, Pfeiffer, Wake Forest, Washington, Wright State
References