Good Monday morning Caps fans. I hope you are having a good start to your week and to the off-season.

The Caps threw a spanner in the works last week with the stadium, disrupting the typical off-season flow (not in a bad way though). We still have plenty to digest, however, with the club making decisions on contracts heading into next year.

Some moves were painfully obvious (keeping Sebastian Berhalter, Thomas Mueller, and Ali Ahmed). Indeed, there were relatively few major decisions facing Vancouver at this stage of the season.

The highlights here were the club’s decision to bring back Issac Boehmer, the non-renewal of Daniel Rios’ loan, and the revelation that they are still negotiating over a possible return for Belal Halbouni and Yohei Takaoka, though it sounds as if the ball is in the keeper’s court. All of those were expected, I dare say.

Axel Schuster previously made it sound like there would be some turnover this offseason, with the desire to keep things fresh. That impulse, combined with the club reportedly fielding offers for upwards of 7 players, means that it will have no shortage of options.

Swinging contract extensions for guys like Sebastian Berhalter and Ali Ahmed certainly is the top priority this offseason. Both are guys who plausibly could make a move to Europe, but also have the World Cup to think of next year. Inking a medium-term extension could be a good move for both.

The other priorities, one imagines, are as follows:

1. Goalkeeper: Given the bumper crop of MLS-proven keepers, keeping Takaoka around isn’t a given. His skill on the ball, however, would be difficult to replace. I’m not convinced Taka is necessarily an MLS Goalkeeper of the Year quality shotstopper, but I don’t think that a Dayne St. Clair, for instance, would necessarily be as neat a fit in Jesper Sorensen’s system. I also don’t know that the contract St. Clair would want would be workable for Vancouver. And while Boehmer has shown plenty of promise (and is more of a proven commodity than most MLS backups), he probably ain’t hitting the assist that Taka had against LAFC in the playoffs. Simply put, if Taka opts not to return to Japan, keeping him probably makes the most sense.

2. Striker: Rayan Elloumi is likely to absorb most of Rios’ minutes, assuming he doesn’t leave for Europe amid links to PSV. But I have a hard time imagining the Caps rolling into next season with just Brian White, Elloumi, and Nelson Pierre at striker, given White’s injury record. An MLS veteran on the cheap would make sense here.

3. Central midfield: Andres Cubas appears to have concrete interest from Brazilian clubs, and there has been a fair amount of smoke over a potential move to South America in recent years. Cubas is awesome and a key cog for the Caps, but you have to think they’d at least listen to offers. Plus, you could argue that shedding Cubas’ DP spot and going to a 2-4-2 setup with the additional GAM could help Vancouver hand out some new contracts. Regardless of whether Cubas leaves, I could see finding another CM as an area of interest. While tying down Berhalter would be great, adding someone with his progressive passing would be a plus, given that he will seemingly keep getting international call-ups. Obviously, finding a like-for-like Berhalter replacement on a budget is nigh impossible, but it is something that would be worth exploring.

The backline seems largely sorted, given the arrivals of Joedrick Pupe and Sebastian Schonlau in the summer, though this could also change if Mathias Laborda is moved on. I also wonder if the future of Sam Adekugbe has been talked about, given that I don’t think you can rely on him to consistently stay healthy at this point (he could be a possible buyout option).

The fact that this column could stretch even longer shows that this will be one of the most interesting offseasons in recent memory. The hardest part of being on top is staying on top, and we’ll be following every move, every rumor, and every effort Schuster et al. make to stay on top.

Best of the Rest

Another move: the Seattle Sounders added Max Anchor off waivers. Best of luck Max — Seattle has a good eye for distressed youth talents, so this might be a good move.

Alphonso Davies is back in action for Bayern Munich, and not a moment too soon as the World Cup draws nearer.

With news that Vanni Sartini is back in at coach in the CPL (congrats Vanni!), some thoughts from the former gaffer on the Whitecaps’ success.

The 2025 MLS Cup final set records in terms of viewership. I’m sure all 4.6 million people were tuning in for the Caps.