2023 U SPORTS Draft

[dyslexic nam]

Love seeing all those 🇨🇦 up there.  Will be exciting to see if anyone uses this as a platform to up their game and launch the next stage of their careers.  

[An Observer]

It also seems like most teams with Valour being the exception mainly if not exclusively drafted players within their region.  I assume that is consistent with previous years.

[jonovision]

58 minutes ago, An Observer said:

It also seems like most teams with Valour being the exception mainly if not exclusively drafted players within their region.  I assume that is consistent with previous years.

Makes sense that Valour would be the exception, as there is no U-Sports men's soccer in Manitoba.

[Bison44]

2 hours ago, jonovision said:

Makes sense that Valour would be the exception, as there is no U-Sports men's soccer in Manitoba.

All our kids go to UofS eh?  5 last year?? 

[EnigMattic1]

1 minute ago, Bison44 said:

All our kids go to UofS eh?  5 last year?? 

I think there is around 5 players from FC Manitoba at UofS. There was also one at Calgary if I remember correctly. And Dylan Hooper at Thompson Rivers was born in Winnipeg.

[StillOnFire]

13 hours ago, K Edgar said:

from Wikipedia...

Round 1

Pick #	CPL team	Player	Position	Nationality	University	Last team/academy
1	Vancouver FC	Anthony White	DF	Canada	Toronto	TSS Rovers FC (L1BC)
2	Vancouver FC	Ameer Kinani	FW	Iraq	TMU	ProStars FC (L1O)
3	HFX Wanderers FC	Anthony Stolar	DF	Canada	Cape Breton	Scrosoppi FC (L1O)
4	York United FC	Christopher Campoli	MF	Canada	Ontario Tech	ProStars FC (L1O)
5	Valour FC	Guillaume Pianelli	DF	France	UQTR	Celtix du Haut-Richelieu (PLSQ)
6	Pacific FC	Eric Lajeunesse	DF	Canada	UBC
7	Cavalry FC	William Omoreniye	DF	Canada	Calgary
8	Atlético Ottawa	Junior Agyekum	MF	Canada	Thompson Rivers	Rivers FC (L1BC)
9	Forge FC	Miles Green	MF	Canada	McMaster	Hamilton United (L1O)

Round 2

Pick #	CPL team	Player	Position	Nationality	University	Last team/academy
10	HFX Wanderers FC	Aiden Rushenas	GK	Canada	Dalhousie
11	York United FC	Trivine Esprit	MF	Canada	Ontario Tech	Simcoe County Rovers FC (L1O)
12	Valour FC	Samuel LaPlante	DF	Canada	UQTR	CS Saint-Hubert (PLSQ)
13	Pacific FC	Brandon Torresan	MF	Canada	Trinity Western	Rivers FC (L1BC)
14	Cavalry FC	Eryk Kobza	DF	Canada	Calgary	Podlasie Biala Podlaska
15	Atlético Ottawa	Mohamed Bouzidi	FW	Canada	Carleton	West Ottawa SC (OPDL)
16	Forge FC	Milo Djuricic	DF	Canada	York	Vaughan Azzurri (L1O)

Pretty sure I've managed Eryk Kobza in FM at York

Miles Green was the joint top scorer in L1O last year and scored nearly half of all Hamilton United's goals. Would be great to see him get a shot on CanPL and see what he can do.

[EnigMattic1]

1 hour ago, StillOnFire said:

Pretty sure I've managed Eryk Kobza in FM at York

Miles Green was the joint top scorer in L1O last year and scored nearly half of all Hamilton United's goals. Would be great to see him get a shot on CanPL and see what he can do.

Always a decent player to pick up.

On a serious note though, I am surprised that Henman didn't get selected. Not surprised Campoli went though. He was at York before, wasn't he?

[top cheese]

The CPL draft is a farce and shows how poor of a scouting network the league has. Players register for it - so 98% of them are nowhere near pro calibre. Then you have players who were drafted and played in the league re-enter the draft again and take spots away from younger players. Then the majority of players don't play in the league. Why not just designated 2 roster spots for USport players on development contracts and let the teams sign whomever? 

[Ozzie_the_parrot]

On 12/17/2022 at 10:13 AM, top cheese said:

....Why not just designated 2 roster spots for USport players on development contracts and let the teams sign whomever? 

They probably just want the optics of having a draft because other bigger budget leagues do it and overall they have a strong CFL influence. Easton Ongaro was drafted by the Cavalry but still wound up playing for his hometown FCE so have to wonder whether the picks really mean that much if a player has a strong preference and another club also wants him.

Edited December 18, 2022 by Ozzie_the_parrot

[Unnamed Trialist]

8 hours ago, Ozzie_the_parrot said:

They probably just want the optics of having a draft because other bigger budget leagues do it and overall they have a strong CFL influence. Easton Ongaro was drafted by the Cavalry but still wound up playing for his hometown FCE so have to wonder whether the picks really mean that much if a player has a strong preference and another clubs also wants him.

But even NBA have draft day trades, all pro leagues do, and noone says they're a farce. Players jump around, lower picks get buried. That's why that story about the 49ers QB who was dead last pick was so "cool"--but it exposes the flaw.

The only way to alter the fragility of the draft is to do those salary guarantees for the first picks, regardless of where they end up. If you pick you have to pay, even if it's the lowest salary rung. The league guarantees it, or the clubs are obliged.

Then the clubs take it more seriously and it means more to the player.

Edited December 17, 2022 by Unnamed Trialist

[ATM]

7 hours ago, top cheese said:

The CPL draft is a farce and shows how poor of a scouting network the league has. Players register for it - so 98% of them are nowhere near pro calibre. Then you have players who were drafted and played in the league re-enter the draft again and take spots away from younger players. Then the majority of players don't play in the league. Why not just designated 2 roster spots for USport players on development contracts and let the teams sign whomever? 

I agree....a soccer draft is a joke. Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't a sports draft a North American concept. Do any other countries use drafts for their sports leagues.

 

[ATM]

On 12/16/2022 at 7:20 AM, EnigMattic1 said:

Always a decent player to pick up.

On a serious note though, I am surprised that Henman didn't get selected. Not surprised Campoli went though. He was at York before, wasn't he?

Not taking away from Campoli, he seems to be a good player from the stats.

BUT, as I have mentioned before, I think on a york united chat, york is a who knows whom team. From what I have heard his older brother is somehow linked with York or knows many at york united. He was once a  coach in York Region and now Peel region.

I am sure this is more common then just the above example. 

[top cheese]

2 hours ago, ATM said:

I agree....a soccer draft is a joke. Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't a sports draft a North American concept. Do any other countries use drafts for their sports leagues.

 

I see the relevance of a draft, but the way this is organized has no legitimacy. I'm willing to bet the teams have no idea who they are picking half the time. 

[Bison44]

14 minutes ago, top cheese said:

I see the relevance of a draft, but the way this is organized has no legitimacy. I'm willing to bet the teams have no idea who they are picking half the time. 

I think there is a reason why most of the teams are picking guys from their backyard eh?  They'll know them and I bet they talk to them about coming if they are drafted before hand.

But you are thinking about this too hard eh?  Its a voluntary thing...they choose to be involved and they dont have to go to the team if they dont want to and can still get drafted again next year or just sign with someone.  Its more like an summer internship as opposed to the way the other NA leagues "own" the rights to players eh?  In the long run it gets Usports and CPL a little buzz/press and maybe helps our Usports grow as a legitimate pathway alongside the CPL.  But as a way to build a team like in other sports leagues, no way.... it is a farce compared to that.  

[EnigMattic1]

5 hours ago, ATM said:

I agree....a soccer draft is a joke. Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't a sports draft a North American concept. Do any other countries use drafts for their sports leagues.

 

I am not aware of anywhere outside of North America that has a draft. But, if done correctly, I actually like the concept of a draft.

2 hours ago, Bison44 said:

I think there is a reason why most of the teams are picking guys from their backyard eh?  They'll know them and I bet they talk to them about coming if they are drafted before hand.

But you are thinking about this too hard eh?  Its a voluntary thing...they choose to be involved and they dont have to go to the team if they dont want to and can still get drafted again next year or just sign with someone.  Its more like an summer internship as opposed to the way the other NA leagues "own" the rights to players eh?  In the long run it gets Usports and CPL a little buzz/press and maybe helps our Usports grow as a legitimate pathway alongside the CPL.  But as a way to build a team like in other sports leagues, no way.... it is a farce compared to that.  

Emphasis on "most". I mean, I am surprised Valour didn't opt for any of the FC Manitoba guys that were in the draft. Oh, wait. No I'm not, they will probably end up at the training camp anyway 🤣

[Unnamed Trialist]

2 hours ago, top cheese said:

I see the relevance of a draft, but the way this is organized has no legitimacy. I'm willing to bet the teams have no idea who they are picking half the time. 

The entire tournament final with 8 teams was streamed. Then there are players also on L1 teams. The Thompson Rivers and UBC picks made perfect sense.

Sounds like you or someone you know got ignored?

[SthMelbRed]

Just now, EnigMattic1 said:

I am not aware of anywhere outside of North America that has a draft. But, if done correctly, I actually like the concept of a draft.

 

The Australian Football League (Aussie Rules) has an annual draft.

[EnigMattic1]

Just now, SthMelbRed said:

The Australian Football League (Aussie Rules) has an annual draft.

Probably why I wasn't aware, I know very little about that sport I'm afraid.

[top cheese]

10 hours ago, Unnamed Trialist said:

The entire tournament final with 8 teams was streamed. Then there are players also on L1 teams. The Thompson Rivers and UBC picks made perfect sense.

Sounds like you or someone you know got ignored?

No someone was not ignored lol. 

[Unnamed Trialist]

3 hours ago, top cheese said:

No someone was not ignored lol. 

I am not into drafts either, but agree that it creates a buzz in U-Sports, it gets players thinking and dreaming. It also means CPL teams pay attention to the university season a bit more. For me it's all good, but I'd like to see them do a guaranteed contract for the first picks, so it means a bit more.

[EnigMattic1]

55 minutes ago, Unnamed Trialist said:

I am not into drafts either, but agree that it creates a buzz in U-Sports, it gets players thinking and dreaming. It also means CPL teams pay attention to the university season a bit more. For me it's all good, but I'd like to see them do a guaranteed contract for the first picks, so it means a bit more.

Exactly. I mean, how often do you see the same player declared each year? The CPL are quick enough to promote the draft, but as you said, it would mean more if there were guaranteed contracts.

It would also mean that clubs would have to dig a little deeper in terms of scouting. I mean, how often does the first pick not last a season? I can't remember if he was first or second pick, but when Valour drafted Raine Lyn in the last draft, he didn't even make it to the start of the season.

Edited December 18, 2022 by EnigMattic1

[Unnamed Trialist]

2 hours ago, EnigMattic1 said:

Exactly. I mean, how often do you see the same player declared each year? The CPL are quick enough to promote the draft, but as you said, it would mean more if there were guaranteed contracts.

It would also mean that clubs would have to dig a little deeper in terms of scouting. I mean, how often does the first pick not last a season? I can't remember if he was first or second pick, but when Valour drafted Raine Lyn in the last draft, he didn't even make it to the start of the season.

They could guarantee the minimum contract, it would not be a lot. But it would be an incentive. 30,000 is the minimum, I am not sure if they go back to University in the fall if they are paid less, or how much. If the player is u-21 only half that goes against the salary cap.

If the club really did not want to do it, then they'd pass during the draft itself.

Only the clubs who were sure a player could help would participate. 

Any player picked and receiving the guarantee would then belong to that club for subsequent years, salary guaranteed, unless the player were waived.

If there is no salary guarantee, and no exclusivity, the draft is mostly symbolic and a bit of an empty shell.

[Pottsy3]

On 12/17/2022 at 7:27 AM, Ozzie_the_parrot said:

They probably just want the optics of having a draft because other bigger budget leagues do it and overall they have a strong CFL influence. Easton Ongaro was drafted by the Cavalry but still wound up playing for his hometown FCE so have to wonder whether the picks really mean that much if a player has a strong preference and another club also wants him.

I'm not really sure the relevance of your example. In the case of Ongaro, himself and Gabriel Bitar were fighting for the last roster spot at Cavalry camp and he was then cut. It's not that he chose FC Edmonton over Cavalry.

[MM3/MM2/MM]

27 minutes ago, Pottsy3 said:

I'm not really sure the relevance of your example. In the case of Ongaro, himself and Gabriel Bitar were fighting for the last roster spot at Cavalry camp and he was then cut. It's not that he chose FC Edmonton over Cavalry.

Shows the amount of free agency in CPL. In the MLS daft the drafting team maintains 2 years of priority rights to the player, if another team wants the player they have to trade for the rights.  And there hasn't been a single trade in CPL.

Definitely closer to the European model then MLS.  

[EnigMattic1]

10 minutes ago, MM3/MM2/MM said:

Shows the amount of free agency in CPL. In the MLS daft the drafting team maintains 2 years of priority rights to the player, if another team wants the player they have to trade for the rights.  And there hasn't been a single trade in CPL.

Definitely closer to the European model then MLS.  

To be fair, this is the first year that I have seen "draft rights retained" in the roster tracker. Unfortunately, if we were to go down the route of trading for rights and whatnot, all you would hear is "CPL copying MLS".