Toronto FC selects winger Tyrese Spicer with 1st pick of MLS SuperDraft

Toronto FC added some sizzle to its left side in Tyrese Spicer, taking the 23-year-old from Trinidad and Tobago in Tuesday's MLS SuperDraft.

The Lipscomb University winger was a United Soccer Coaches first-team all-American, the Atlantic Sun ConferencePlayer of the Year and a semifinalist for the MAC Hermann Trophy this year.

Spicer led the ASUN with 14 goals and added three assists for a conference-leading 31 points. He had 29 goals and 18 assists in 57 career appearances for Lipscomb, which is based in Nashville.

Toronto GM Jason Hernandez said the team hopes Spicer can deliver the kind of flank attack that coach John Herdman deployed with his wingbacks/wingers with Canada.

"For us, Tyrese would fit very much in a space that we certainly don't have that kind of profile, out on the left," Hernandez said.

Spicer scored in 10 consecutive matches to open the 2023 season and finished the regular season as the ASUN leader in goals, points, shots on goal, goals per game, points per game and game-winning goals, and led the NCAA in goals per game.

Spicer believes his time is now.

"I would like to come into the first team," he said from the family home in Trincity, Trinidad. "I think I'm good enough to have an impact on it. I know the transition from NCAA level to MLS level is going to be a jump. And I'm going to have to take a few weeks to adjust to the transition and the fast pace and the high IQ of these players.

"But I trust myself. I'm confident always in myself. I can feed off of these pros and they can guide me and take me under their wing."

Some had wondered whether TFC might stay local and pick Canadian forward Kimani Stewart-Baynes. The Toronto native, who turns 19 on Jan. 17, was named Big Ten Freshman of the Year after scoring three goals and adding seven assists in 14 matches for the University of Maryland.

But Toronto opted for the six-foot-one 153-pound Spicer, with Maple Leafs captain John Tavares announcing the pick.

Canadian goes 4th to Colorado

Colorado, which finished second-last in the league, was active in the draft taking Duke midfielder Wayne Frederick second overall and Stewart-Baynes fourth. The Rapids, now led by former TFC coach Chris Armas, also swung a deal to get University of Washington centre back Nate Jones who went fifth overall to Austin FC.

Colorado traded the 12th and 14th overall picks to the New York Red Bulls and Charlotte, respectively.

FC Dallas traded up to pick third and take Oregon State forward Logan Farrington, who like Spicer had signed a contract with the league before the draft.

CF Montreal took UCLA defender Grayson Doody with the 10th pick. The five-foot-10 native of Hermosa Beach, Calif., appeared in 67 games for the Bruins with 61 starts.

A former surfing aficionado, Doody played for the Los Angeles Galaxy academy team as a freshman before focusing on his high school team.

The Whitecaps traded their first-round pick (16th overall) to Real Salt Lake in a February deal to acquire the rights to forward Sergio Cordova. Vancouver, which also gave RSL up to $300,000 US in general allocation money, subsequently transferred the Venezuelan to Turkey's Alanyaspor in September after 19 league appearances.

The league has widened the talent pool this year, opening the door to sophomores and juniors with close to 400 players eligible in the three-round draft.

Minnesota used the 20th overall pick to take Canadian forward Marcus Caldeira from West Virginia. The 19-year-old from Mississauga, Ont., tied Japan winger Yutaro Tsukada for the Mountaineers' team lead with 12 goals and was named a second-team All American by the United Soccer Coaches.

Caldeira played for Toronto-area academy Sigma FC until he was 16, when he got a development contract with Forge FC.

Tsukada went 25th to Orlando City. A third West Virginia player, goalkeeper Jackson Lee, went 28th to Los Angeles FC whose starting goalkeeper is Canadian Maxime Crepeau.

Stewart-Baynes and Virginia freshman forward Stephen Annor both signed Generation Adidas deals with the league, making them even more attractive given their contracts will not count against the salary cap of the team they go to.

Ghana's Annor, who led Virginia with 10 goals this season, went 26th to the Houston Dynamo.

'Electric pace'

Stewart-Baynes, who spent the 2022 season with Vaughan Azzurri's under-19 team, signed a developmental contact with the CPL's Halifax Wanderers in March. League rules allow clubs to sign up to four such contracts with Canadian under-18 players, who can appear in up to six matches in a season.

Halifax coach Patrice Gheiser pointed to Stewart-Baynes' "electric pace."

"We call him 'Iceman' because his finishing is so prolific," said Gheiser, who coached Stewart-Baynes for four years with Vaughan before Halifax. "We say he has ice in his veins. And generally when he plays, he doesn't feel much pressure.

"If the right team gets their hands on him, they'll be able to do something magic with him."

Hernandez suggested that Maher, whose older brother Jack plays for Nashville SC, plays a position where "there's competition to be had."

Syracuse defender Olu Oyegunle, from Brampton, Ont., who is also a Sigma FC product, was taken three picks later by the Chicago Fire. Akron midfielder Malik Henry, from Hamilton, went in the second round (39th overall) to Montreal.

Vancouver chose Hofstra midfielder Eliot Goldthorp in the second round (45th overall). The English native spent time with the academies of Manchester United, Leeds United and Bradford City.

Toronto opened the third round by taking Indiana midfielder Patrick McDonald (59th overall). Montreal then chose UConn forward Eli Conway (68th overall).

Vancouver used the 74th overall pick to select Ottawa forward Nicolas Fleuriau Chateau from St. John's. Toronto, with the 85th overall pick, took Stanford midfielder Fletcher Bank with Montreal choosing Western Michigan midfielder Carson Hodgson one pick later.