By Marc Weber
The Vancouver Whitecaps have something the Grizzlies never had, something the Canucks had only for a few minutes before turning it into the Sedin twins.
First overall pick in the draft.
Not the expansion draft. The real draft.
"There's a real ring to it," club president Bob Lenarduzzi said Monday after Vancouver and Major League Soccer expansion cousins Portland divided up priority in eight player acquisition categories.
The two soccer clubs jump from North America’s second division to the top-tier, MLS, in March of 2011.
Vancouver had first choice of category Monday thanks to a kind coin toss at the MLS all-star game.
They wanted the first overall pick in the MLS SuperDraft.
It does sound good. But aesthetic value wasn't exactly a guiding principle.
The Whitecaps think there's a franchise player to be had.
Perhaps it's Omar Salgado, the 6-foot-4, 16-year-old member of the U.S. under-20 national team who spent five days with the Whitecaps this month. Perhaps it's someone else.
The SuperDraft is made up of college seniors, underclassmen and high school players who've been signed to Generation adidas contracts, and others invited to the MLS Draft Combine.
Generation adidas is a partnership between MLS and U.S. Soccer to keep top, young talent at home.
Aside from Salgado, this year's class hasn't been announced yet.
Eight of last year's top 10 picks were Generation adidas players, who, as a bonus, don't count against the $2.55 million salary cap.
The right SuperDraft pick can also result in large transfer fees down the road.
Toronto's top pick in 2007, Maurice Edu, was sold to Scottish Side Rangers for $5 million the following season, of which the club kept two-thirds.
"The SuperDraft over its history has produced some quality players who have become cornerstones," said Whitecaps director of soccer operations Tommy Soehn, pointing to U.S. national team captain Carlos Bocanegra, who started out with the Chicago Fire when Soehn was assistant coach there.
"We feel like we're going to get someone who will be a benchmark for the franchise."
Last year's top pick, Congolese forward Danny Mwanga, makes just over $200,000 and has seven goals for the Philadelphia Union.
But the Union have also found success with their expansion draft pickup, Seattle cast-off Sebastien Le Toux, who is third in the league with nine goals.
Portland is hoping to find another Le Toux, as the Timbers chose Monday to take first pick in November's MLS Expansion Draft.
Portland and Vancouver alternated selecting player categories after Vancouver's initial SuperDraft selection.
"We get to pick up a proven player," Timbers general manager Gavin Wilkinson said of the expansion draft. "The SuperDraft, it's a gamble, but one with a big upside."
Less talked about will be the allocation ranking, which Vancouver chose as its second category. But it could turn out to be extremely valuable.
It gives the Whitecaps priority in signing a U.S. national team player or former MLS player who wants to return to the league.
When U.S. forward Brian McBride chose to come back to MLS after his time with English side Fulham in 2008, Toronto had the highest allocation ranking. McBride wanted to play close to home in Chicago and Toronto was able to trade him for forward Chad Barrett, a first-round pick and cash.
Current U.S. national team players who could yet return to MLS in 2011 include World Cup starting centre back Jay DeMerit, who is recently out of contract at Watford in England.
"We were really excited to get the allocation ranking," said Soehn, who is well connected to U.S. national team coach Bob Bradley. Soehn was Bradley's assistant with the Chicago Fire. "It's something we feel has an unbelievable value."
The value of the allocation ranking, and the top SuperDraft pick, will of course depend on the shrewdness of management.
Until January, though, for a city that’s seen the Canucks take Dale Tallon No. 2 after Gilbert Perreault, and the Grizzlies take Stromile Swift and Steve Francis No. 2, it’s nice to be No. 1.
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