#nwsl expansion draft

[sapphiccj]

that was stupid bay fc but thank you ❤️❤️

[team-mew-s-a]

Expansion Draft: Protected List Predictions

I haven't seen any protected lists published yet, so below I've listed out who I think each team will/should protect. Other than the +1, they aren't in any particular order. We'll see how close I come soon!

Angel City:

Claire Emslie

Ali Riley

MA Vignola

Alyssa Thompson

Syd Leroux

Angelina Anderson

Amandine Henry

Jun Endo

Giselle Thompson

(+1) Scarlet Camberos

Chicago Red Stars:

Alyssa Naeher

Tatumn Milazzo

Arin Wright

Julia Bianchi

Penelope Hocking

Ava Cook

Jenna Bike

Ally Schlegel

Cari Roccaro

(+1) Jill Aguilera

Houston Dash:

Jane Campbell

Sophie Schmidt

Natalie Jacobs

Katie Lind

Diana Ordoñez

Michelle Alozie

Sarah Puntigam

Nichelle Prince

Andressa Alves

(+1) Joelle Anderson (rights)

Kansas City Current

Gabrielle Robinson

Michelle Cooper

Debinha

Lo'eau LaBonta

Haillie Mace

Elizabeth Ball

Vanessa DiBernardo

Kristen Hamilton

Morgan Gautrat

(+1) Cece Kizer

NJ/NY Gotham FC:

Lynn Williams

Yazmeen Ryan

Jenna Nighswonger

Kristie Mewis

Midge Purce

Kelley O'Hara

Maitana López

Katie Stengel

Esther González

(+1) Nealy Martin

North Carolina Courage:

Kaleigh Kurtz

Ryan Williams

Narumi Miura

Casey Murphy

Denise O'Sullivan

Kerolin

Malia Berkely

Tyler Lussi

Rikako Kobayashi

(+1) Brianna Pinto

OL Reign:

Lauren Barnes

Alana Cook

Sofia Huerta

Jordyn Huitema

Bethany Balcer

Jess Fishlock

Veronica Latsko

Quinn

Claudia Dickey

(+1) Sam Hiatt

Portland Thorns:

Sam Coffey

Bella Bixby

Morgan Weaver

Kelli Hubly

Emily Menges

Hina Sugita

Sophia Smith

Olivia Moultrie

Janine Beckie

(+1) Rocky Rodriguez

Racing Louisville:

Abby Erceg

Katie Lund

Lauren Milliet

Carson Pickett

Savannah DeMelo

Ary Borges

Jaelin Howell

Elli Pikkujämsä

Thembi Kgatlana

(+1) Paige Monaghan

San Diego Wave:

Danny Colaprico

Naomi Girma

Kailen Sheridan

Alex Morgan

Jaedyn Shaw

Rachel Hill

Sofia Jakobssen

Taylor Kornieck

Abby Dahlkemper

(+1) Kristen McNabb

Washington Spirit:

Sam Staab

Gabby Carle

Ashley Hatch

Tara McKeown

Aubrey Kingsbury

Andi Sullivan

Trinity Rodman

Ashley Sanchez

Ouleymata Sarr

(+1) Paige Metayer

[sapphiccj]

i actually love this move for her she’s gonna do so well there

lolll

[melodiousoblivionao3]

Between the expansion draft, free agency, USWNT documentary, and Meadema documentary I cannot deal both rn and for the foreseeable future

[emotionalsupportsoccerball]

Here are the major rules for the Expansion Draft itself. I will be doing a deeper dive on the way that it works and of course keeping everyone as up to date as possible with any further news!

The biggest thing that stands out right now is that they've done away with anything that specifically applies to USWNT players, all of which are up for grabs.

The next thing is that all the free agents are highly likely to wait to commit to teams until AFTER the expansion draft, so that way they can't get drafted. Unless they negotiate a no-trade clause with their club, which seems like it would be very difficult to do considering their club would HAVE to use a spot to protect them.

And finally, the additional player protection is very interesting, and I can't wait to see who the teams protect (and I'm also terrified)

[trustherkindheart]

Apparently you don't need to make trade deals if you don't have players that anyone wants 🤷‍♀️

[kay-no-lies]

Well guys, now that that chaotic ass final/season has finished….it’s time for the most chaotic off season that the NWSL has ever seen. BUCKLE UP!

[justbackgroundnoise]

The NWSL’s new CBA finally did what I’ve wanted this league to do for years and it’s about damn time. No draft, no expansion draft, no trades without consent, AND free agency when a contract is up regardless of tenure in the league. A lot of these new things are standard in most other elite women’s professional leagues and it’s sad that it’s taken the NWSL so long to get to this point but amazing to see some of these standard practices finally being put in place! Proud of the athletes for working so hard to make this happen because it’s what they deserve.

It’s worth it to read a bit more about it if you’re interested!

[leveloneandup]

The RE—CAP Show: Tobin & Christen Contextualize the Expansion Draft

Today's conversation was one of emotional highs and lows as our hosts unpack the drama and trauma of the NWSL Expansion Draft. In this episode, Tobin and Christen discuss the heartbreaking yet hopeful realities of playing in the American sports market. Christen dives into the topic of treating players like human beings, while Tobin gets personal and takes us through her experience with the expansion draft.

Want to hear how this episode's community questions segment got rebranded into Community Questions Gone Wrong? Tune into the latest episode of The RE—CAP Show to get the scoop!

[wileys-russo]

can someone who understands the nwsl explain to me wtf the draft expansion is im so confused

[batlleonafc]

I finally figured out that Gabby is a free agent, while Marine is a restricted free agent (which should mean she has to get the NYL's approval before signing with another team). I understand why Gabby only signed for the end of the season with the Storm. There's also Golden State's expansion draft for next season which could affect things. It could be that certain types of player rights, maybe all types, maybe only certain types, will be eligible. Then there's also the new broadcast deal and the likely new collective bargaining agreement that goes into effect in 2026 which means that virtually no one has signed contracts that extend past 2025. Everyone is expecting a big jump in the salary scale, so no one wants to sign contracts that go beyond one year. They need to simplify something though, I understand the need to keep the league competitive, but they need to be more on the side of the players. I don't understand how leagues that have less viewers and following can pay their players more. Even the nwsl pays its players more

Thanks so much for doing the research Anon. WNBA contracts and Drafts are just way too complicated for normal people to understand. I hope we get to see Gabby and Marine in the same team and both getting good minutes. Would love to see them play in purple.

[sapphiccj]

congrats elyse

they better treat you right ❤️

[team-mew-s-a]

Expansion Draft Step 3: Mock Draft

So here’s how I think it would go (or how it would go if I were in charge of every single team in the league).

Bay selects Sam Hiatt from the Reign

Reign protects Elyse Bennett

Utah selects Sarah Griffith from Chicago

Chicago protects Jenna Bike

Bay selects Ryanne Brown from the Reign

Reign is out of the draft

Utah selects Amanda Kowalski from Chicago

Chicago is out of the draft

Bay selects Kyra Carusa from Wave

Wave protects Sofia Jakobssen

Utah selects Thembi Kgatlana from Louisville

Louisville protects Paige Monaghan

Bay selects Tyler Lussi from North Carolina

North Carolina protects Tess Boade

Utah selects Julia Lester from Louisville

Louisville is out of the draft

Bay selects Rachel Hill from Wave

Wave is out of the draft

Bay selects Katelyn Rowland from North Carolina

Draft is over

I feel pretty comfortable with the first two selections (although Griffith and Bike could be swapped), but then Bay’s second selection is where it really could go anywhere - I think there’s a ton of good forwards available to them from teams that Utah doesn’t get to pick from, so they would probably go for an outside back or maybe a goalkeeper in this round, but that could be Ryanne Brown or Jill Aguilera, or even Laurel Ivory or Maia Pérez.  If they were to take Aguilera instead, I would say that Utah probably takes Shae Homes as their second choice and then things generally stay the same from there, and if Bay were to take a goalkeeper from Reign instead of an outside back, they would probably then take Haley Hopkins or maybe Brianna Pinto as their second choice from North Carolina.

Two things worth noting:  first, pretty much across the board, if a player that I expect to be the extra protected player doesn’t get that designation, I think they will be taken as the second drafted player.  Second, I think the decision not to protect Thembi Kgatlana initially is baffling, unless a) she wanted to leave, or b) the approach was simply to determine protected/unprotected based on how many regular season minutes each player played in 2023 to reduce locker room tensions.

[hyperfixationsstation]

go off utah they already have like what 5 players

honestly utah is striking gold by letting all of the mormons come home

[emotionalsupportsoccerball]

It's protection list time! Here are all the protection lists from each team who needs to submit one as well as the teams who have protection in the draft!

IMPORTANT NOTE: Even if a team has protection from one expansion side they could still lose TWO players, as there are no rules about expansion teams double dipping (ex. Racing has protection from the Bay but not Utah, so Utah could take two of thier players if they wanted to)

As usual, if you've got any questions feel free to drop them in my inbox and I'll do my best to answer!

[22plus15]

yey about the draft thing! (I never understood it anyway and I don’t watch nwsl but it looks like fans are happy about it 👍😅)

very yay!!! i've been reading about the cba all day so i'll explain a bit if anyone's curious ⬇️

the draft is a very american sports thing -- when players decide to go pro out of high school or college (which are very established here rather than academies and reserve teams), they make themselves available for the draft and the worst performing teams in the pro league each season will get the first draft picks so they essentially get the best new players, which is supposed to maintain parity btwn teams and avoid the teams with the most money or pull hoarding all the best rookies

it was integrated into the nwsl pretty much by default -- but as it turns out doesn't work as smoothly for how global of a sport soccer is (clubs have a way bigger pool of overseas players to buy from than other american sports so they don't rely on the draft for new talent) and also takes a lot of agency away from young players. lots of reasons and lots of debate on both sides of it. that's the college draft but what's also been eliminated is the expansion draft, which was when a new team was created they got their free pick of available players (not limited to just rookies) to give them a fair shot, but at the expense of the players who suddenly got traded and had to uproot their lives (among other potential dangers in a post-roe v wade world and with the history of bad actors in women's sports). it sounds good for new teams in theory but in practice it never really works out anyway (just look at utah royals' place on the table lol)

anyway the elimination of the draft is just one part of the cba that was announced today and i really recommend looking into it if this kind of thing interests you! the nwslpa (players' union) secured lots of player protections, much higher salary caps and minimums, guaranteed contracts (i.e. if you get injured or smth, which we know happens a lot in woso these days, you'll still get paid your full salary no matter what), extra bonuses for end of season awards, charter flights (the usa is huge you gotta fly), players' consent is FINALLY required for trades, free agency for all, parental leave and childcare, mental health services, etc etc

and a lot of the same workplace protections will also apply to front office staff and everyone who works behind the scenes at clubs and within the league so it's genuinely a huge step in the right direction for making women's sports leagues truly professional and safe working environments, and also not being afraid to diverge from the model of major men's leagues 👌

of course there's always progress to be made and the elimination of the draft will def come with a learning curve, but this has all been a long time coming and a lot of past nwsl players suffered and were put in a lot of precarious positions that future players will hopefully never even dream of happening to them now 👍

and last thing i promise: i remember answering an ask about kc current having lucy's discovery rights, meaning if she wanted to go to the nwsl she'd have to sign with them or they'd make bank if another team wanted her. that's been eliminated as well so i believe she's a free bird if she ever comes here!