Nine veteran players under contract to Canadian MLS teams had their options declined today, making them eligible for the MLS re-entry draft. They are:
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Ryan Pore - Montreal
Greg Sutton - Montreal
Danleigh Borman - Toronto
Joe Cannon - Vancouver
Greg Janicki - Vancouver
Jonathan Leathers - Vancouver
Jay Nolly - Vancouver
John Thorrington - Vancouver
Peter Vagenas – Vancouver
For the full list of players available in the draft click here.
In the past, a veteran player who had his option declined was forced to either negotiate a smaller contract with the club, or hope that another club thought enough of them to trade an asset for them. Otherwise, they were stuck. – MLS rules, in an effort to eliminate even the hint of a bidding war for a player, prevented them from looking for a new club within MLS.
The re-entry draft is far from perfect, but at least it allows the players a chance to move at the salary that was promised in the option year of their contract. In practice most of the players on the list are done, or are coming back at a lower number.
There are two stages in the draft. In the first round teams are offered a chance to claim a player’s current contract. If they do, things are pretty much done – the player will be with the club that selected him next year.
In the second stage, teams are claiming the right to exclusively negotiate a new contract with the player. Simply being selected in the second stage does not guarantee that a player will be with the club that picked him as they are not under contract.
If a player is not picked in either stage, they are free to talk to any club in MLS.
The first stage takes place Dec 5, with stage two going Dec 12. Vancouver has the first selection, Toronto the third and Montreal the 19th.