Racing Expansion Draft Player Power Rankings
Courtesy USA Today Sports Images
There won’t be much to write about (hopefully?) on the Racing front until they make a coaching hire, and then it’s likely to be very light on news until the expansion draft. Like most other Racing fans, I have been keeping a mental list of which players I would protect in the upcoming expansion draft. Since the rules were released yesterday, we now know officially that Racing can protect 9 players (then a 10th after the first player is selected). I will share my list in a power rankings-style manner. Believe me when I say that my mental list has changed at the bottom to some degree, but I would say that 8 are pretty inarguable. I will provide a list of players that I believe merit consideration and then give my opinion.
No debate on inclusion or placement
Savannah DeMelo: She is number one on the list and I can’t imagine that there would be much debate, so I won’t bother making much of a case for her spot other than to say she has the longest signed contract with the team, and the team is obviously building around her.
Jaelin Howell: We all saw the impact of her missing a significant chunk of the playoff-push and the impact it had on things. She is signed through 2025, and is the club captain so there shouldn’t be much doubt that she only trails Sav in her importance to the organization.
Lauren Milliet: When Racing signed several new players to start the 2023 season and people were trying to predict what the starting XI would be I couldn’t believe the number of people who left her out of their top choice lists. That was my personal “tell me you don’t understand football without saying you don’t understand football” moment for the year. As Racing’s all-time appearance leader, this is a no-brainer. I understand if some might have her further down the list, but I would love to manage my “5 a side” team of Racing players vs. theirs any day.
No Debate on inclusion, some debate on placement
Ary Borges: For half a second, I thought about ranking her as high as 3. I spent longer thinking about moving her down to 5. Ultimately, she is comfortably entrenched at 4. It is plausible that depending on how the offseason goes, that she could find herself playing further forward next season. Her flexibility and still somewhat untapped potential make her a lock to be on the list.
Abby Erceg: Will be 34 when next season starts, and that is really the only thing keeping her out of the 4th spot and potentially 3rd. Was the clear team MVP in my opinion.
Carson Pickett: Would be ranked potentially higher if Björkegren could have figured out how to get her teammates to use her better. I think she could have an even better season next year if the players in front of her figure out how they should be tailoring their runs to her crosses.
Elli Pikkujämsä: I think she tends to be overlooked sometimes, but her flexibility makes her an invaluable addition to the team.
Katie Lund: Racing needs to stop having 4 goalkeepers under contract. There is nothing that makes me think that any keeper will ever see the light of day as long as Lund is #1. She is so far above the league average from a metrics perspective, that losing her would essentially destroy the season anyway so I don’t really understand why she can’t just have single backup on the roster (and a bunch of non-rostered backups on the speed dial). Only ranked this low because I am super biased against keepers. I wouldn’t protect a single other keeper in the league if I were in charge of their rosters (maybe Campbell). By the way, the USWNT keepers were league average or worse in goals added this season.
Tough call(s)
Kirsten Davis: This was a tough call, but I still think she has the potential to get better, and I started to see encouraging demonstrations that she gets some of the game’s finer nuances better than some of her teammates. I almost guarantee that she gets taken if let unprotected (and if I end up being wrong, I can’t wait to face the organizations that would pass on her).
Paige Monaghan: Was number nine on my mental list until the last quarter of the season. I think Davis outplayed her and I think it is slightly more likely that a team would look at her and be more likely to pick a different attacker.
Thembi Kgatlana: If I thought she fit better into Racing’s system and that her teammates understood how to make runs with her and be in her preferred target spots (she is never going to have enough space or time in this this league to dribble AND pick out a pass, so her teammates are going to have to be in the spots she instinctually passes to) I would rank her higher. Her (alleged) salary might scare off some people. She definitely could move higher depending on the coach, but I don’t think she fits in a pressing system. She is more effective in a counterattacking system at the moment.
Kayla Fischer: I think I would roll the dice and hope she flew under the radar enough for the two expansion teams not to pick her. If she does get taken, it wouldn’t be immediately damaging, but I have a feeling that Racing would ultimately regret it.
Who I think will be taken
Wang Shuang: (Bay FC) It makes too much sense. You can build a team around her. It would be much easier for her to manage her international travel from the Bay area compared to Louisville. It makes sense for both teams to get this done before the draft, but it could ultimately be left to draft day.
Paige Monaghan (Utah Royals): I hope I am wrong here, but I think they ultimately take a look at the roster and decide to take the best player available and decide that while Kgatlana is likely the better player, Monaghan is the better value.
Huge caveat: I don’t have any insight who might have a “no trade” clause, so ultimately this entire list could be thrown off by any player with said clause. I could imagine that Monaghan tried to negotiate one into her contract. It is also plausible that some of the international players have those in their contracts. I really don’t think any player would mind waiving that clause to be included in the draftable player pool, however. Time will tell.
