New York City FC and Orlando City SC participated in the MLS Expansion Priority Draft today at the League Office in New York City, and Jason Kreis was thrilled to come away with what he considered to be the top prize on the table: the number 1 ranking in the allocation order.
The allocation ranking is the mechanism used to determine which MLS club has first priority to acquire a U.S. national team player who signs with MLS after playing abroad, or a former MLS player who returns to the league after having gone to a club abroad for a transfer fee.
"We have lots of players in mind" said New York City FC Head Coach, Jason Kreis. "We know of some players that have interest in coming to the league. To us, allocation was the number one selection. We thought that was the best way of getting players on our list, so we were happy to get the one.
Additionally, New York City FC now has possession of the second pick in the Expansion Draft, which Kreis firmly believes will provide some much needed squad depth for a team about to enter its inaugural season. "I think that would be in particular a very strong pool of players," said Kreis. "I think there are a lot of players that may not play for their current teams every week but can certainly contribute on a regular basis for a new team like us.”
Sporting Director Claudio Reyna added, "We're excited to have completed the Expansion Priority Draft, we now have a better sense of how we will move forward in building our roster for 2015. This was an important step, and we are very pleased with the positions we’ve come away with. We feel we’re in a very strong position to acquire some fantastic soccer players."
Complete list of NYCFC's positioning after today's MLS Expansion Priority Draft:
No. 1 ranking in allocation order
No. 2 selection in MLS expansion draft
No. 2 selection in MLS SuperDraft
No. 2 spot in USL PRO/NASL priority order
No. 21 spot in lottery ranking
No. 20 spot in waiver/re-entry draft
No. 1 spot in Designated Player ranking
No. 20 spot in discovery ranking
