Yesterday, the Montreal Impact made its choices for the 2017 MLS SuperDraft, in Los Angeles, adding forward Nick DePuy (UC Santa Barbara) and midfielder Shamit Shome (FC Edmonton, Generation Adidas Canada) to its squad. While DePuy will join the team for preseason training, Shome has been called up by Canada U20 for their training camp in Panama and for their U20 World Cup qualifiers.
Of all players currently at the club, six have been through the league college draft. Dominic Oduro, chosen by FC Dallas, and Eric Kronberg, selected by the Kansas City Wizards – who became Sporting Kansas City in 2011 – , have entered MLS in 2006. Calum Mallace, the Bleu-blanc-noir’s 2012 second-round pick, is one of four players still at the club who was a member of the inaugural season; Chris Duvall, acquired from Minnesota United FC this winter, was drafted by New York Red Bulls in 2014; finally, Kyle Fisher and Michael Salazar, who completed their first pro season, were chosen at the same time last year.
Granted, DePuy and Shome are far from the level of these veterans who have accomplished so much in the league, but today, they have an opportunity very few soccer players in the world get: they join the ranks of a first-division club. The future is theirs.
