We have reached the 2/3 point of the MLS Next Pro Season which means it is time for an update on how the prospective future Whitecaps are doing. The first edition from this season has a long section explaining how all of this works so you can go and read that if you want that information. Additionally, I wanted to briefly touch on who will not be included in this report. Firstly, I wrote a bit about Nelson Pierre when he joined the first team so if you want to hear about him you can read that. I also am only going to include players who have played at least 300 minutes and I have something new to say about. If a player was 23 and not good enough for MLS after 9 games, I don’t see any point in repeating that after 18 games. When I do the final report and rank the WFC2 players I will include everyone. Alright, let’s get into it.

Rayan Elloumi/17/ST

Rayan Elloumi had not met the minutes threshold at the time of the first report but in the intervening he has exploded onto the scene with 7 goals and 3 assists in less than 800 minutes. Now, you probably won’t be shocked to learn that there is a certain amount of xG over-performance involved in scoring that much but Elloumi’s underlying numbers are still incredibly impressive. In fact, in the four seasons of MLSNP to date I can’t find another teenager who’s numbers are even in the same ballpark as Elloumi’s. Normally in these reports there are a lot of comments that boil down to “this is pretty good for a teenager.” But Elloumi’s performances have been elite without any qualifiers. Potential is a fragile thing but this is future super-star level stuff. Elloumi does a lot of dribbling, suggesting a potential to play wide as well as through the middle. But he also has the size and high quality shot locations to play through the middle. I don’t think he necessarily has to be rushed into the first team this season but I would be very surprised if he wasn’t in the mix next season.

Antoine Coupland/21/W

Antoine Coupland has had a surprising resurgence after an injury kept him out of almost the entirety of 2024. But he has returned with some strong performances in MLSNP and even a first MLS goal. G+ likes Coupland quite a bit. based purely on that, he looks like he might be a Canadian Paul Rothrock, which would be a welcome addition to the first team on a supplemental roster spot. But Coupland’s xG output gives me pause. 0.41 xG+xA/96 is not MLS level end product. However, we should give Coupland some grace as he was having to shake off the cobwebs after a year on the shelf. So, the thing to watch in the final games of the season is if Coupland can start turning his strong underlying play into consistent elite shot generation at the MLSNP level. If he can do that, I am all for giving him an MLS deal.

Adrian Pelayo/19/CB

Adrian Pelayo is a new newcomer to WFC2. Pelayo is a Mexican-American who has spent time with the youth set-ups for the Portland Timbers and Chivas. He has generally been solid, particularly in recent weeks when he has played in the middle of a back three. Pelayo is probably another year away but the Whitecaps do not have very many young centre-backs in the mix so he is a welcome addition to the system.

Sahil Deo/17/W

Sahil Deo is a winger/fullback tweener so he is getting dinged a little bit in the on-ball areas of G+ because he isn’t getting into winger positions all the time. Deo is clearly a player who is still adjusting to the speed of the professional game, having only recently made the jump from the academy teams. He is nowhere near ready for MLS but you can see some signs of good attacking fullback stuff in the data and he only turned 17 in April. So I think there is cause for cautious optimism.

Alexander Milosevic/19/GK

WFC2 have used 5 different goalkeepers this season but Milosevic has been the most used with 685 minutes. Milosevic is pretty good at coming off his line and using his feet but lags behind in the actual stopping shots part of being a keeper. He is 19 so there is still a lot of time for him to develop further but I don’t see him being in the first team picture for some time and wouldn’t be surprised to see him go to the NCAA.

Cyprian Kachwele/20/ST

Cyprian Kachwele has battled injury this season so the chart above only represents 495 minutes of action. Kachwele has the fact that he would require an international slot working against him, as well as competing against domestic players Nelson Pierre and Rayan Elloumi for a spot. But his underlying play and xG in that tiny sample size are both extremely strong. If Kachwele can stay healthy for the final 3rd of the season he is one of the most fascinating WFC2 players to watch. I will say, his mediocre “receiving” and the fact he is still pretty reliant on just being faster than everyone else does make me a little skeptical.

Nikola Djordjevic/22/FB

Djordjevic has split time between fullback and winger this season but no matter where he has played he has been excellent. Of course, he is 22 so there is a certain amount of Kramer dominating a children’s karate class going on here. But Djordjevic has shown the level of dominance I would want to see from an older player to earn an MLS contract. The biggest hurdle to that, however, is that there are only so many spots. The Whitecaps have three right-backs under contract already. Additionally, players like Elloumi and Coupland are probably bigger priorities for supplemental roster spots. So, if I were Djordjevic, I would really be hoping the Whitecaps win MLS cup and are forced to cut a bunch of salary when everyone’s bonuses hit the salary cap.

Johnny Selemani/17/W

Johnny Selemani is in a similar situation to Coupland. Excellent underlying play but not a lot of end product. The difference is that Selemani is only 17 (he’s actually a year younger than Elloumi) and thus has a lot of time to figure things out. I think Selemani would benefit from another season in MLSNP after this one but he’s a player I am excited about for the long term.

Luca Chen/17/CM

Chen has played fullback, centre-midfield and even a bit of centre-back. So his G+ numbers are a bit all over the place. Chen is very young but his performances are a little bit disappointing, considering they do not show very much growth from last season. I wouldn’t be discarding him at this stage by any means but he turns 18 in November so may have an eye towards the NCAA. If he sticks around he would need another season in MLSNP at the very minimum.

Yuma Tsuji/16/CM

Yuma Tsuji is the youngest regularly playing member of WFC2 and he has put up some extremely impressive defensive numbers. Of course, all of the on-ball stuff is a bit lacking. But considering Tsuji doesn’t turn 17 until next month, I think we can cut him some slack! Tsuji will need to work on making quicker decisions with the ball at his feet but his overall play has been seriously impressive. He is probably another year away but he looks like, at minimum, a very strong MLS player in the making.

Jackson Castro/22/CM

Jackson Castro is in a very similar position to Nikola Djordjevic. He has probably done enough to earn an MLS contract but there might simply not be room for him on the Whitecaps. There are only so many supplemental roster spots and the Whitecaps are in the fortunate position of having a lot of players making strong cases to fill them. Castro is a really strong deep-lying playmaker and set-peice specialist.

Injuries/Mysterious Absences Update

We don’t get injury updates for MLSNP so sometimes players just disappear for a bit. Liam Mackenzie has not played since his first team debut but there have been reports of him working his way back from injury so we do at least know what’s up with him. Finn Linder has not dressed a single time despite still being listed as under contract. Dembo Saidykhan has also mysteriously vanished. Another odd one is Danny Flores, a former Sporting Kansas City prospect who was announced as signed, played 18 minutes, and has not appeared since.

Loan Updates

Max Anchor/21/GK/Pacific F.C

Alright, look, that’s not very good. There is no doubt that Anchor has stumbled a little bit for Pacific this season. Decent in possession play and good work claiming crosses are not enough to make up for some truly poor shot-stopping performance. Anchor is only 21 and guys like Max Crepeau, Isaac Boehmer, and James Pantemis had only played a handful of professional games at this point in their career. So it’s not time to write him off yet but this year has not been a positive development. By the way, I remain steadfast that he should be Pacific’s number one. Because, as much as Anchor has struggled, Melvin’s shot-stopping numbers are almost identical and he provides a lot less in possession and claims fewer crosses.

Mihail Gherasimencov/20/FB/Cavalry F.C 

Gherasimencov has played a mixture of wing and fullback for Cavalry. He has played over half of the minutes he has been available for and has at least subbed on in the majority of games. I think playing multiple positions explains why he has so many defensive actions but a relatively low success rate. He is doing a lot more pressing than most fullbacks would be doing. Despite modest success, Gherasimencov’s numbers a little underwhelming. Particularly his on-ball numbers are pretty vanilla. 0.08 xA/90 is not that much for a player playing further forward and he is not a standout when it comes to ball progression. Gherasimencov’s performances are encouraging as it relates to having a professional career but if he doesn’t hit another gear I am not sure that career will involve playing for the Whitecaps.

Nicolas Fleuriau-Chateau/23/ST/VPS

NFC has a pretty decent goal scoring record in Finland with 6 goals and 2 assists in less than 1000 minutes in all competitions. Unfortunately, the underlying numbers paint a much less rosy picture. I am surprised he has not done better considering he looked reasonably dangerous in his MLS cameos. Unless he goes on a tear, I think the CPL beckons.