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With 4 picks in the 2013 MLS Draft, the Montreal Impact potentially hold quantity and quality whether it uses all of its picks to draft NCAA players. Both plugging holes int he starting XI and looking to have a deeper squad are obviously on the mind of the club. With a tight salary cap ,as per club President Joey Saputo, trading some picks might help towards getting some allocation money.
In today's conference call with Nick De Santis and Matt Jordan, it was confirmed that the Impact is definitively looking for offense.
The presence of Canadian talent has caught the eye of the Impact management group, including highly touted midfielder, Kyle Bekker
He is one of the players that the whole league is aiming for. We also have Emery Welshman on the radar but Bekker would be hard to get. It will depend on what the other teams will select -- Nick De Santis
The good news is that the Impact is conscious that Bekker will probably already gone by the #8 pick but De Santis keeps an open mind to move up
No decision was made [as per player selection] and we have another meeting to know which player we want at which spot. We will try to upgrade our #8 spot to try and get closer to the #1 position --
Since the conference, Toronto FC traded its 1st round pick overall for the New England Revolution's No. 4 overall pick and allocation money. This will either block any intentions of trading up from the Impact as other clubs might not want to trade. With Chivas USA and the Revolution most probably not moving, this might leave the following trading partners and options for Montreal:
- Toronto FC with #3 & #4 picks : Kevin Payne has not counted out the possibility of trading down if it's worth it.
- Vancouver Whitecaps with the #5 pick
- Colorado Rapids with the #6 pick
- FC Dallas with the #7 pick
- Trade down the #8 pick for allocation money and/or player
No team has approached us for trades and it is up to us to do so. -- Nick De Santis
Responding to the Eric Hassli rumor wanting to leave Toronto FC, Nick De Santis has not heard anything about the rumor but
It would be an interesting player to have --
There is relation between Hassli and the Impact as the Montreal head coach Marco Schällibaum previously coached Hassli in the Swiss Super League.
But as whole, Director of Soccer Operations, Matt Jordan confirms how the pool of talent in the 2013 MLS SuperDraft is even
Not as deep than in the last couple of years. There is an opportunity in the draft for all the clubs. Players in this year's draft are seen more in a long-term approach.
Offensive talent it is for the Montreal Impact and will definitively pick an offensive player, either a FW or a outside player/winger.
Even though we had some problems defensively last season, we are looking at players in offensive positions to help our attack
We are always looking for another forward to complement Marci Di Vaio, Andrew Wenger and Sanna Nyassi, or an outside player/winger as to continue to get better on the sides.
-- Nick De Santis
''European Philosophy'' , NCAA vs Academy & Marco Schällibaum
As per the club's philosophy ''vis a vis'' the NCAA system and the Academy, Nick De Santis insisted the Impact's is not an European philosophy but the club's philosophy.
Marco Schällibaum has been involved in the MLS SuperDraft and Combine activities and discussions but the club wants him to focus on the upcoming training camp.
This week, we involved Philippe Eulaffroy and Marco Schällibaum. We asked him about his impressions after each game, after each day. He enjoyed how the process went through but has his full focus on training camp next week.
If he knew what he had on hand with the pro team, it would have been easier to understand how to make the team better via the draft.