As the ranks of Major League Soccer swell to 19 prior to the 2012 season, all clubs are prepared to add to their ranks at this year’s MLS SuperDraft, held in conjunction with the NSCAA Convention for the ninth year in a row.

Scheduled for Thursday, January 12 and beginning at 11 a.m. CT, the SuperDraft consists of two rounds and 38 picks. The first round will be broadcast on ESPN2 and ESPN3.com, with the second round carried on ESPN3. Drafting isn’t an exact science, and teams will be out there looking for the next stars of MLS.

One of the biggest focuses of this year’s draft is the continued team building of the Montreal Impact, the 19th team to enter the league. The Impact enters the league after a lengthy history in the lower divisions of North American soccer, playing last season in the North American Soccer League.

With the No. 1 overall selection, the front-runners to be selected by the Impact are either Akron’s Darren Mattocks or Duke’s Andrew Wenger. Mattocks, a lightening-quick striker who scored 21 goals last fall for the Zips, signed a Generation adidas contract, and could be an impact player as a rookie.

Wenger, the recipient of the 2011 MAC Hermann Trophy, excelled while playing as a forward for Duke in 2011, scoring 17 goals and 8 assists, also picking up the ACC Offensive Player of the Year award. A candidate for the U.S. Olympic qualifying team, he projects to play as a center back or defensive midfielder at the pro level and is also a member of the Generation adidas class entering MLS.

Fellow Canadian club Vancouver Whitecaps select with the second overall pick. After a poor debut season in MLS, which saw the team finish last in 2011. New coach Martin Rennie is taking the reigns this season, and will make his first ever draft selection with the second overall pick. The likeliest selection for the Whitecaps is almost certain to be whoever the Impact pass on – either Wenger or Mattocks a strong candidate.

From there, the draft becomes much harder to predict as the consensus top two players come off the board. Picking third are the New England Revolution, in full rebuilding mode under new head coach Jay Heaps. With North Carolina’s Billy Schuler opting to sign in Hammarby, the Revolution must turn elsewhere to fulfill the need of a goal scorer. They could turn to two Generation adidas forwards – South Florida’s Dom Dwyer or UCLA’s Chandler Hoffman.

Pinpointing the needs of the third Canadian club to pick in the first round – Toronto FC – is a bit more difficult. Without a lot of room under the salary cap, it’s expected for the Reds to target a Generation adidas player. And depending on who remains available, that could be stout defender Andrew Jean-Baptiste out of Connecticut, or perhaps one of the play-making attacking midfielders like North Carolina’s Enzo Martinez or UCLA’s Kelyn Rowe.

Defensive needs are also high on the priority list of the league’s Bay Area representative, the San Jose Earthquakes. With the number of defenders on the roster at a low, it wouldn’t be surprising to see Matt Hedges of North Carolina or Tyler Polak – another Generation adidas member – land with the Quakes to help the back line.

D.C. United’s 2011 season ended in disappointment yet again when the team failed to make the playoffs for a fourth straight season. Holding the seventh overall pick – the possibilities are significant. Needing depth just about anywhere on the field, D.C. could turn to experienced players like Creighton’s Ethan Finlay or Maryland forward Casey Townsend for help up front. Or, if a defender like Hedges or Polak is available, that would help fill a need as well.

An energetic debut season for Portland in 2011 set the league abuzz, thanks in large part to the Timbers Army and dazzling atmosphere at Jeld-Wen Field. Now, the Timbers could look to add a center back, especially with news coming down this week that David Horst will miss 5-7 months because of hip surgery. That could leave someone Hedges, or perhaps Louisville’s Austin Berry as options with the eighth pick.

There was one thing the Chicago Fire had in abundance last year – speed on the field. The dynamic pair of Patrick Nyarko and Dominic Orduro created chance after chance that was converted on a sporadic basis. With the ninth pick, grabbing a finisher like Hoffman would go some distance to rectifying that issue, or the Fire could turn to an outside back like Polak or Chris Estridge of Indiana.

Moving on to the tenth pick transitions to last year’s playoff teams starting with the Columbus Crew. While they’ve already added a couple of players to their roster, wide players Emmanuel Ekpo and Robbie Rogers are likely not returning for 2012. With that in mind, selecting someone like Finlay, who can play out wide, or Generation adidas midfielder Sam Garza, who excelled on the right side at UC Santa Barbara.

Garza is also someone FC Dallas wouldn’t mind to draft at the next slot, as the Texas native would help FCD deal with the departure of Marvin Chavez. Depending who is left on the board will determine how things shake out, as Dallas could use another center back, making players like Hedges, Berry or even Andrew Jean-Baptiste possibilities.

After Toronto FC gets a second crack at a first round pick at No. 12, the Philadelphia Union is on the clock. It’s always hard to read into what Peter Nowak might do – rumblings of a Freddy Adu move to Spain could open the door for Philly to pick up one of the attacking midfielders like Martinez or Rowe.

Two years ago, the Colorado Rapids lifted the MLS Cup. This draft season, the club has a new coach in Oscar Pareja and is likely to undergo a transformation in 2012. Part of that new look could be a creative wide player like Tony Cascio from Connecticut, who would bring a consistent attacking verve to either flank.

It’s hard to figure what Seattle, one of the league’s deepest teams, could possibly need. Stacked in nearly every position, it’s likely that the Sounders take the best player on the board, whether that’s someone like local midfielder Kelyn Rowe, forward Dom Dwyer – it all depends on who’s there.

The same can be said about Sporting KC, picking 16th overall. Playing a 4-3-3, the team doesn’t have many have many holes to fill. Depth at center back in the form of Indiana’s Tommy Meyer could be a possibility, or even a forward left on the table like Louisville’s Colin Rolfe.

Salary cap constraints have left Real Salt Lake with more gaps than usual – especially at the outside back spots and in the middle of the park. Calum Mallace, a tall defensive midfielder out of Marquette would be a good fit for Jason Kreis’ side.

Winding down at the end of the first round gives the Houston Dynamo and LA Galaxy, the 2011 MLS Cup contestants, each get the opportunity to add players 18th and 19th respectively. With options of talent limited, the Dynamo can only hope that a creative midfielder like Rowe or Martinez slips down the table. Meanwhile, the Galaxy, who will have to cope with the absence of Omar Gonzalez thanks to his knee injury suffered in Germany, will target either a center back, or perhaps a defensive midfielder because of the departure of Juninho.

The only club without a draft pick in the first round of the SuperDraft is the New York Red Bulls. Having dealt away this year’s selection for Dwayne De Rosario – only to ship him to D.C. a few months later – New York’s options are limited to a second round pick. Facing the possible departure of Tim Ream to England, a center back will be high on their priority list.

However, like the most of the other MLS teams, they’ll have to search deep within the draft class to determine who the best candidates will be in the second round. Gems will no doubt be out there, with players like Geoff Cameron (Houston Dynamo), Sean Johnson (Chicago Fire) and Tim Ream (New York Red Bulls) all selected after the first round.t

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