Montreal Impact Passes On D.C. United Players In 2011 MLS Expansion Draft

Leading up to the 2011 MLS Expansion Draft, we were worried that DC United might wind up losing either a veteran proven player like Clyde Simms or Santino Quaranta, or a young developing player like Blake Brettschneider or Austin da Luz.

In the end though, the likeliest of scenarios was the one to occur. United left the expansion draft unscathed, as the Montreal Impact selected 10 players from different MLS teams.

In the biggest news of the day, Jesse Marsch of the Impact selected veteran forward Brian Ching with his first pick, daring the Houston Dynamo to either make a trade to get their leader back, or maybe even force Ching to retire.

The Impact also managed to decimate the roster of Chivas USA, selecting high potential rookie defender Zarek Valentin and also trading recently selected defender James Riley to Chivas for Justin Braun and Gerson Mayen.

To round out the selections of the expansion draft, the Impact added Seth Sinovic of Sporting Kansas City, Justin Mapp of the Philadelphia Union, Bobby Burling of the San Jose Earthquakes, Jeb Brovsky of the Vancouver Whitecaps, Collen Warner of Real Salt Lake, Josh Gardner of the Columbus Crew, and Sanna Nyassi of the Colorado Rapids.