No real surprises on Sounders’ 2021 Expansion Draft protected list

While there were some quality performers left exposed, there really weren’t any big surprises on the list of players the Seattle Sounders protected from the 2021 MLS Expansion Draft. Of the 11 players the Sounders left exposed, only three are currently under contract for the 2022 season and all of them were accurately predicted by our “Protectionator.”

Predictable or not, the Sounders could still suffer a painful loss when Charlotte FC picks five players in Tuesday’s Expansion Draft.

Perhaps the most attractive of those exposed players is Abdoulaye Cissoko. The soon-to-be 22-year-old is coming off a MLS debut season in which he made 12 starts and logged nearly 1,000 first-team minutes. He’s also due to make something close to the league minimum.

Also left exposed were Kelyn Rowe, who played in all 38 games; Fredy Montero, who had 7 goals and 6 assists while playing on a league-minimum contract; Will Bruin, who is one of the top active scorers in MLS; and Shane O’Neill, who made 19 starts for the league-leading defense.

No team can lose more than one player in the Expansion Draft. If the Sounders do lose a player, they’ll be compensated with $50,000 in General Allocation Money and be exempt from the next Expansion Draft. The Sounders have lost at least one player in 4 of the 6 Expansion Drafts for which they’ve been eligible.