Usually taking place in mid-January, the MLS SuperDraft symbolizes the official beginning of the new season. All MLS teams and their representatives find themselves in the same room, picking from the pool of young, talented players available to be drafted. This year, the 19th edition of the SuperDraft will be held in Philadelphia at the Pennsylvania Convention Center on January 19.
Overview
The draft itself will take place after the 2018 adidas MLS Player Combine, where the technical staff of all 23 MLS teams will have a chance to scout from a pool of top college, youth, and international prospects invited by MLS. The combine goes from January 11-17 in Orlando, where the players participate in physical testing, interviews and full-field matches.
The format of the SuperDraft is not complicated and resembles the draft process of other major American leagues. Each team selects players over the course of two rounds, while the third and fourth rounds will be held via conference call on January 21. The order in which teams select players is based on where they finished in the overall standings, except for expansion team LAFC, who will select first overall, just like Montreal did when it entered the league in 2012.
Impact picks twice in first round
The Montreal Impact will select twice in the first round, having acquired Colorado’s 2018 first round pick when it traded defender Eric Miller (also a former Impact draft pick) in February of 2016. That means that the Rapids’ first round pick, which is the fourth pick overall, belongs to the Montreal Impact. The Impact will also have the seventh pick in the first round.
Here is every single Montreal Impact first round draft pick since its inaugural MLS season in 2012:
2012: Andrew Wenger – 1st overall
2013: Blake Smith – 8th overall
2013: Fernando Monge – 18th overall
2014: Eric Miller – 5th overall
2015: Romario Williams – 3rd overall
2016: Kyle Fisher – 14th overall
2017: Nick DePuy – 19th overall
What will happen in this year’s SuperDraft? With the fourth and seventh overall picks, the Montreal Impact finds itself in the driver’s seat. You can find the initial 60 players invited to this year’s combine here.
Here is an inside look at last year’s MLS SuperDraft:
