The Vancouver Whitecaps have signed two second-team players to MLS deals. 22-year-old striker Nicolas Fleuriau Chateau and 18-year-old Jeevan Badwal have been added ahead of the MLS roster freeze. Here is a quick summary of what both players have to offer.

Nicolas Fleuriau Chateau

Nicolas Fleuriau Chateau is already a recruitment home run because he is a 3rd round draft pick who has actually managed to set foot on an MLS pitch. The 22-year-old Canadian has lead the way offensively for WFC2 with 9 goals and 4 assists in 1486 minutes. This is an impressive total considering WFC2 doesn’t really have a final 3rd playmaker, leaving their strikers having to fashion chances without much support. NFC is small but quick and scrappy. He’s the sort of striker who’s going to sit on the shoulder of the last defender and make runs into the channel. He’s not much of a linking striker but he can run with the ball in a straight line very fast and in MLSNP that has been enough to win four penalties. I sort of doubt that will translate to the MLS level but it will be interesting to watch. At 22, NFC still has a little room to grow but is also getting close to entering his prime years. As such, I would say his long-term potential is probably as a squad player in MLS. I’d be surprised if he ends up being the ‘Caps first choice striker but I’d be supremely unsurprised if he puts a few goals past CPL clubs in the Canadian Championship next season. In the short term, he provides serviceable depth at the centre-forward position, something the teams has been desperately short on.

Jeevan Badwal

Whereas NFC is being signed to provide some depth right now; I think Badwal’s signing is more of a reward for good development and to lock him down long-term. Badwal, as you can see from the chart above, has been a pretty average midfielder in MLSNP this season. But if you’re making the jump from U-17s to the professional level and you’re basically average that speaks to your long-term potential. Badwal is a box-to-box midfielder who covers a lot of ground, is a strong ball-winner, and can shuttle the ball forward through carrying. However, his passing range is quite limited. To make the jump to MLS proper that will have to be something he improves on. His G+ chart shows him as a good receiver, which implies that he make a lot of runs into the penalty area but I think he’s benefiting from one event, when he scored a goal after receiving a pass practically on the opposition goal line. Badwal has taken some considerable strides over the course of the MLSNP season, looking stronger and more able to keep up with the pace of play. His long-term outlook is pretty exciting, I think he can develop into a solid MLS player, though his passing would have to improve a lot for him to rise higher than that.