How to Watch the 2021 NWSL Expansion Draft

San Diego Wave FC will continue to build their roster.

By Alicia Rodriguez Dec 16, 2021, 7:07am PST

San Diego Wave FC have been hard at work in building their inaugural roster, and they’ll get more reinforcements on Thursday when they take part in the 2021 NWSL Expansion Draft alongside Angel City FC.

Teams originally could take up to nine players, with San Diego getting the second pick, but pre-expansion draft deals will mean the options will be more limited for San Diego:

Chicago Red Stars won’t have a player selected by San Diego because of the trade to acquire the NWSL rights to Katie Johnson, Makenzy Doniak and Kelsey Turnbow.
North Carolina FC won’t have a player selected by Wave FC due to a deal to acquire Angharad James’ NWSL rights.
Gotham FC won’t have a player selected by San Diego because of the trade to acquire Kailen Sheridan’s NWSL rights.
Washington Spirit won’t have a player selected by Wave FC as a result of the deal to acquire Tegan McGrady’s NWSL rights and a draft pick.
Kansas City Current won’t have a player selected by San Diego due to being exempt from the expansion draft in a prearranged deal with the league.

As a result, Wave FC can select players from the following teams:

In other words, it looks like a maximum of five players, although it is possible no Orlando player will be taken as a condition of the not-yet-fully-publicly announced deal by San Diego to acquire Alex Morgan. We’ll see.

One more wrinkle in the Expansion Draft to keep in mind: Not only can teams pick one player per existing team, but the expansion teams combined can only take one player per position group per team. For example, if Angel City take a forward from the Dash with their first pick, San Diego cannot take another Dash forward, but they can still take a Dash goalkeeper, defender and midfielder.