Toronto FC selected two Canadians with their first round selections in the MLS SuperDraft.
Midfielder Kyle Bekker went with the third pick and Emory Welshman went at No 16, after Toronto traded down three times.
Bekker is the highest Canadian ever selected in the draft.
The Reds traded the No 4 selection to Vancouver for the No 10 selection and allocation.
They then flipped No 10 to Seattle for even more allocation.
The Bekker pick might surprise some. Going into the combine he was not ranked nearly as high as he went. However, he was voted as the combine MVP and TFC was far from the only team that had him in the top five going into the draft.
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They may have been the only team that had him at No 1, which is what allowed them to make the move last night to get allocation from New England.
He's a box-to-box midfielder and most expect him to get regular time immediately. One NCAA expert described him as playing like former Reds midfielder Sam Cronin, only with more attacking dynamism. He's good on the set piece.
Like Cronin, he's seen as having above average intelligence. He could be a leader sooner rather than later.
Welshman is more of a long-term project, but he did perform well in the combine and came through the system with Bekker. The Reds felt that Welshman's long-term ability was as good as the American prospects and therefore it made sense for them to get as much allocation for him as possible by trading down to the last possible spot before Montreal might take him.
Both players will be paid a relatively low salary as well, which is a factor.
Although we will not know how much allocation TFC received it's estimated to be at least $200. Based on salary projections the Reds should have close to $750,000 yet to spend this off-season.