Kitchen is a top-notch player, even at his very young age. If you’re of the “pick the best player available” school, a strong argument can be made that he’s the guy to take (provided that Vancouver or Portland doesn’t snap him up first). Throw in his Generation Adidas deal, and him falling to #3 might be something of a coup for DC.

On the other hand, Kitchen might not find the path to a starting role for us to be an easy one. Without making any trades, Kitchen would be up against Simms, Morsink, and Shanosky at defensive midfield; James, Jakovic, and White in central defense; and Zayner and McTavish at right back (a position that, most likely, Kitchen would only fill in an emergency anyway). It seems that everyone with DCU wants to pair the best of our current center backs with someone experienced; that means Kitchen would be battling up to 4 specialists for time at a position that isn’t his best. Meanwhile, at right back, Olsen made it clear that Zayner impressed him down the stretch; I think that job is his to lose.

That leaves Kitchen’s best position, defensive midfield. I don’t see Kitchen taking the job from Simms right away (no matter what formation we play, which is a big and confusing question at this point), but I’d rather have him as the backup over Morsink. I know it seems like I pick on Morsink at every possible opportunity, but objectively, he is a turnover machine and fouls far too often when “good defending,” to use Kitchen’s term, would get us the ball without conceding a free kick. These are real issues, and when your defense includes Burch and is being backstopped by a 20 year old, you need to shield them as effectively as possible.

Even if Kitchen is no better than Morsink today, he’s only a teenager; Morsink is 26, and it seems safe to assume he’s either hit his ceiling as a player or is very close to doing so. Hell, even if Kitchen is worse than Morsink today, we’re talking about the backup to Simms; Kitchen will have surpassed Morsink very soon, especially with the reserve league available to give him games.

There’s also that rumor from Goff about Simms being shopped around. There are several teams that would be pretty interested in him; if we make that trade, we’re looking at entering preseason with Morsink as our starting defensive midfielder, which means we’re also looking at a defense that is put in constant danger. If Simms is to be traded, then grabbing Kitchen becomes a must, even if it means trading up (or maybe that’s part of the Simms deal?).

Whether or not Simms gets traded, I think Kitchen would be able to start the season in our game day squad, and he’ll only get better from there. He’s not the only player I’d be happy with us drafting at #3, but he would be at the top of my list.