Good Friday morning Caps fans, hope you all are having a lovely week and that things are winding down for a well-deserved break.
It is officially silly season, with the MLS offseason kicking off with a half-day trade window, the expansion draft for San Diego and plenty of transfer rumors. If you’re a sicko (and if you’re reading this you probably are) it is a fantastic week.
It has been a relatively quiet one for the Vancouver Whitecaps but that isn’t necessarily a bad thing. The Caps were unlikely to have a player selected in the expansion draft, with few cost-effective, domestic players exposed (people weren’t tripping over themselves to draft or trade for Bjorn Utvik). They also didn’t induce San Diego to draft/trade a player, like they did with Charlotte to acquire Tristan Blackmon. There were some potential options for such a move but there’s no real issue with the Caps standing pat on that one.
The two moves that did get announced for the senior team were also positive developments, with Ralph Priso and J.C. Ngando re-upping for another year in Vancouver (both guys will also have options for 2026 and 2027).
Both of these guys were players I advocated keeping around. Priso in particular is a no-brainer, as he was adequate cover for Andres Cubas and will likely remain on the supplemental roster, muting his cap hit. He is a likely candidate to take the field in Costa Rica against Saprissa, the Caps’ opponent in the CONCACAF Champions League.
Ngando is trickier merely because he will occupy an international spot. But, by all accounts, he put in an excellent loan performance with Las Vegas Lights as one of the top midfielders in the USL. I imagine he got a club-friendly contract as well, which helps offset the international spot he will take up. Ngando always seemed like a guy who could have gotten more of a shake even before the loan and I think he will be solid depth, particularly if Alessandro Scopf is not retained. Depth remains an open question for the Caps but with Ngando, Priso and Seb Berhalter all returning and Jeevan Badwal entering the picture (and Schopf still a possibility), this is one area where things are a bit better.
There are a smattering of other developments that I’ll hold back on until Monday (gotta ration out the #content this time of year) but it has already been a hectic start to the
UPDATE: Well, we have a much more significant development brewing that dropped shortly after this posted.
The Caps’ ownership announced this morning they will be putting the club up for sale, a move that will have potentially seismic (and, if things cut right, transformational) impacts on the club for years and decades to come. There also is a risk a sale would open the door for the Caps to leave Vancouver, which would be of course devastating (the statement emphasized the club’s impact on the region and did not make it seem like a move was in the offing. But I don’t think anyone really trusts this ownership group). There is a lot we don’t know but this will be something we will dive into more on Monday. In the meantime, drop any knee jerk reactions in the comments.
Shameless Self Promotion
Who in the CPL is worth taking a punt on? Caleb has some ideas. Meanwhile, the podcast recaps Vancouver FC and Pacific’s season and takes a look back their predictions about how the Whitecaps would fare.
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A look at the top free agents available this offseason — is there anyone the Caps should be targeting?
MLS leaders are still thinking about making changes to roster and competition rules but aren’t quite there yet.
The Caps will get either Valour or TSS Rovers in the first round of the Canadian Championship next year.
It’ll be another year of CPL versus Liga MX in the CONCACAF Champions League.
Who deserves the honor of Canadian Player of the Year?
This team has no proper PR and their crappy attendance verifies that.Every MLS private stadium is great and well attended. Even the Women’s League is doing better!
Idiotic … the ‘Caps ranked 7th in MLS attendance. 2024 Average ~26,000 and the highest NWSL team’s average was 18,700 (Portland).
Just factually wrong.
“But I don’t think anyone really trusts this ownership group).” There’s no polite way to describe the inanity of this quote. There would be no MLS soccer in Vancouver without Kerfoot. Jesse Marsch would not be coaching the MNT without Kerfoot. The NSDC would not have been built without Kerfoot.
You can argue about his stewardship of the club as an owner and some of the decision making. There’s plenty of things you can debate.
What you cannot debate and what you cannot question is his commitment to soccer in BC and Vancouver. It’s an asinine statement that belies your bias and prejudgement,.
With our luck it will be Chip Wilson… I will be gutted if they move. They have been an essential part of feeling like I have roots in the city… Yes they have been mediocre, frustrating, and inconsistent, but the past three years have been fun and especially last year we saw some decent football. Fingers crossed we get through this…
This team is now for sale, it figures. It’s public awareness practices have been horrible!!! Nobody knows when the games are, no media representation, games not on TV,
Nobody in any bar knows that they are playing a game. It’s disheartening to go to a pub or bar and they have old Nascar replays on instead of a home team’s live games. There have been no exciting huge signings. A home playoff game was played in Portland!!, I hear about the BC Lions ten times daily, and they play a game nobody in the world cares about in bush Canadian cities…its deplorable as Vancouver is one of the biggest soccer cities in North America and this team has pretty well exciled itself out of the market. And I have followed them since Day 1 of the old days! I am 100% right in what I say.
will this be another NBA Grizzlies scenario ?? there are plenty of US markets wanting into MLS and willing to pay in the +$500 mill expansion fee- but maybe if a MLS team is moved, then there will be no expansion money which works in Vancouver’s favor
getting rid of the present disengaged ownership group is another positive
BUT who will want to spend $400-450 mill to buy the Caps ?? in a fast-growing league, massive billionaire investors, coming World Cup, exploding media and merchandise sales and buying into the world game, hopefully there are local people/investors who see a massive up-side
We can only hope we can get an owner who is really invested in spending for a championship. That would be great. The nightmare scenario of them leaving town is not to be considered, I won’t allow myself to go there.
This team is now for sale, it figures. It’s public awareness practices have been horrible!!! Nobody knows when the games are, no media representation, games not on TV,
Nobody in any bar knows that they are playing a game. It’s disheartening to go to a pub or bar and they have old Nascar replays on instead of a home team’s live games. There have been no exciting huge signings. A home playoff game was played in Portland!!, I hear about the BC Lions ten times daily, and they play a game nobody in the world cares about in bush Canadian cities…its deplorable as Vancouver is one of the biggest soccer cities in North America and this team has pretty well exciled itself out of the market. And I have followed them since Day 1 of the old days! I am 100% right in what I say.