What to Expect Going into the Two NWSL Drafts
Two NWSL drafts, the NWSL Expansion Draft this Thursday and the 2022 NWSL Draft this Saturday, are quickly approaching.
Although a lot of trading has already occurred, Angel City FC and San Diego Wave FC will still have the opportunity to fill out their roster during the expansion draft, and all of the teams will have the chance to draft college and high school players that have opted to enter the 2022 NWSL draft. With that said, here is our preview and predictions going into the two NWSL drafts.
Expansion Draft
For the Expansion Draft, the Chicago Red Stars, KC Current, Gotham FC, and the NC Courage all have complete draft protection due to trades they made earlier this month and in late November. This means that the Portland Thorns, OL Reign, Washington Spirit, Racing Louisville, Orlando Pride, and Houston Dash have all put out their list of protected players.
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Angel City and San Diego will have alternating picks and can choose four players each, including one U.S. federation player. Although the rules for which team can draft who are a bit confusing, here’s the basics of how each team can pick their players:
ACFC will go first and can draft from the Orlando Pride, Houston Dash, OL Reign besides their forward players, and Washington Spirit besides their U.S. federation players.
San Diego will pick after and can draft from the Orlando Pride, Houston Dash, Racing Louisville, and OL Reign.
High-profile unprotected players are Megan Rapinoe of OL Reign, Tobin Heath–whose player rights are owned by Racing Louisville, and Kristie Mewis, who is unprotected by the Dash but has been seen practicing with Tottenham over in the FA WSL.
Angel City FC
Angel City has started strong with the likes of Christen Press, Sarah Gorden, and Simone Charley. They also have goalkeeper DiDi Haracic and midfielder Julie Ertz, but she has been battling injury.
They will probably be looking to build out their defense and midfield through their draft picks and maybe bring in some young forward players to build off Press.
Through the four players that ACFC can choose, players of interest to the team may be Dash defender Megan Oyster and midfielder Brianna Visalli, OL Reign midfielder Dani Weatherholt and defenders Madison Hammond, Sam Hiatt, Kristen McNabb, and Lauren Barnes.
For Orlando Pride, ACFC could surely be interested in midfielders Erika Tymrack, Marisa Viggiano, Gunnhildur Jonsdottir, and defenders Ali Riley, Toni Pressley. In addition, Washington Spirit defender Paige Nielson and midfielders Taylor Aylmer and Anna Heilferty would also be good picks.
Overall, Angel City looks like they could have a really strong starting lineup, but they could be lacking the midfield depth that San Diego has started with. Considering they already have Press up top, there could be a chance of Tobin Heath heading to ACFC later on.
San Diego Wave FC
San Diego has started strong by building its defense through Abby Dahlkemper, Kailen Sheridan, and Teagan McGrady. Although they also are beginning to form their attack with Alex Morgan, Katie Johnson, Jodie Taylor, Mackenzy Doniak, and Kelsey Turnbow.
Going into the expansion, we may see them focus most on their defense and midfield. Players of high interest to San Diego could be the Dash’s Sophie Schmidt or even Kristie Mewis. A great defensive midfield choice for San Diego would be drafting Savanna McCaskill of Racing Louisville.
Additionally, Wave FC may be interested in Megan Rapinoe, but with Alex Morgan up top, they may be looking to go with more defensive players such as OL Reign’s Madison Hammond, Sam Hiatt, Kristen McNabb, or Ali Riley or Toni Pressley of the Pride.
2022 NWSL Draft
The final draft order is set after a handful of deals that happened earlier, but it could likely change after the expansion draft when the trading window reopens. Additionally, the official list of players who are eligible for the draft was released.
The draft consists of four rounds of twelve picks each. The first round looks like this as of now:
- San Diego Wave
- Racing Louisville
- North Carolina Courage
- Racing Louisville
- Orlando Pride
- Houston Dash
- North Carolina Courage
- NJ./NY Gotham
- San Diego Wave
- OL Reign
- Chicago Red Stars
- Kansas City Current
San Diego will likely snatch up NCAA champion Jaelin Howell with their first pick. Howell would be a great addition for them in the midfield.
Racing Louisville has a lot of power with two first-round picks. They’ll likely choose Stanford defender Naomi Girma as the second pick and could go for someone like Florida State’s Clara Robbins or Emily Madril to further bolster their defense. Many of these teams could be looking to strengthen their defensive midfield and backline.
Come draft day it will be interesting to see which SoCal team makes a play for UCLA’s Mia Fishel, Marley Canales, or USC’s Penelope Hocking. The Pride might even go for one of the UCLA players because of coach Amanda Cromwell’s hiring.
The other picks are a matter of positioning, as there are talented prospects all around, like UVA forwards Diana Ordonez and Alexa Spaanstra, Canadian midfielder Julia Grosso, FSU’s midfielder Yujie Zhao, NCAA top goal-scorer Nicole Douglas, Rutgers attacking midfielder Frankie Tagliaferri, and tons more.
Overall, it’ll really just come down to what happens in the expansion draft and afterward when the trade window opens again. It’s an exciting time to see two NWSL drafts and two new NWSL additions in California, where there will be a lot of interest in relocation and to see so many new faces next season.
Featured image via Getty Images
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