Friday’s the big day for Canadian university soccer.

The 2021 CPL-U SPORTS Draft will take place at 3:00 p.m. ET with 48 declared players eligible to be picked by Canadian Premier League clubs ahead of the 2021 season.

Players are guaranteed an invite to training camp this Spring and are able to sign U SPORTS development contracts, which could see them play professional soccer but also retain their university eligibility.

Each CPL club has something different to look for ahead of Friday’s draft.

Will FC Edmonton go for a young prospect or a hardened veteran with their first overall pick? How about newcomers Atlético Ottawa – how will they approach their inaugural draft?

Here’s one big need per team ahead CPL-U SPORTS Draft…

RELATED READING: More on the 2021 CPL-U SPORTS Draft

FC Edmonton – A centre-back

The Eddies have a pretty solid defensive core in place for 2021 with standouts Amer Didic and Mélé Temguia joined by fullbacks Jeannot Esua and newcomer Sharly Mabussi. What coach Alan Koch needs is dependable depth at the back – and this draft class has that in spades.

It’s also a good year to have an eye for Alberta-based defenders. Look at former Canadian men’s national team centre-back and Edmonton native Jackson Farmer, who Koch knows quite well from their time together with the Vancouver Whitecaps. Also available for selection is 2018 CPL-U SPORTS draftee and FCE Academy grad Noah Cunningham, who is finishing up his eligibility at the University of Alberta.

Atlético Ottawa – Solid Canadian talent

It’s difficult to predict Atlético Ottawa’s inaugural draft and how they will approach it. Will coach Mista grab the best players or go local, as many CPL clubs elected in 2018 and 2019? We’re predicting he will go with the latter.

Carleton has been one of Ontario’s best U SPORTS sides for several years, finishing top of OUA’s east division three seasons in a row. Ravens coach Kwesi Loney has been noted as a big proponent of using U SPORTS Development contracts to help players such as former first overall pick and Carleton standout Gabriel Bitar.

Perhaps it’d be wise for Ottawa to tap into a local setup like Carleton and, hopefully, bring on players for the future.

Valour FC – A dependable attacker

Valour didn’t have many problems at the back last season… the issue was going forward.

Coach Rob Gale has put his faith in attacking returnees Austin Ricci and Moses Dyer along with newcomer Venezuelan Ronny Maza – but more pieces are needed considering striker Shaan Hundal and winger Fraser Aird have already departed the club.

What about former Cavalry striker and Carelton standout Gabriel Bitar? Former Whitecaps attacker Victory Shumbusho has always been on CPL radars – could he make an impact for Valour?

York United – A ready prospect

York has shown creativity with this U SPORTS tool in the past. Isaiah Johnston, drafted in 2019 and initially thought to be a prospect, was brought on full-time after just one season at Cape Breton.

Expect York to be savvy, especially with the new rule allowing for year-over-year retainment on U SPORTS players. Southern Ontario schools such as York, Guelph, Toronto, and Ryerson have a couple of quality pieces that have featured heavily in League1 Ontario, too.

Pacific FC – Young depth

Pa-Modou Kah should be on the lookout for depth pieces – specifically from British Columbia (Pacific FC has never drafted outside of BC across five CPL-U SPORTS Draft selections – don’t expect that to change).

Two-time draftee and University of British Columbia Thunderbird Thomas Gardner is eligible and could be a solid rotation option, as would recent UBC commit Chris Lee.

Cavalry FC – An injection of youth

Cavalry FC has one of the older teams in the CPL, standing at an average age of 26.1 according to Transfermarkt.com, with only Jose Hernandez fit to contribute to the CPL’s new 1,500 -minute under-21 threshold.

A good number of potential U SPORTS draftees have ties to Calgary through the city or Tommy Wheeldon Jr.’s former Calgary Foothills program – and most of them could contribute to that under-21 total. Former Cavs midfielder Victor Loturi, former Foothills fullback Ethan Keen, Mount Royal centre-back Caden Rogozinski, and former draftee Mohamed El Gandour all fit in that category.

HFX Wanderers FC – Centre-back depth

HFX Wanderers have been the most clinical CPL team at the CPL-U SPORTS Draft, finding Island Games standouts Cory Bent, Christian Oxner, Jake Ruby, and Peter Schaale. In 2021, we predict coach Stephen Hart will be on the lookout for a future star at the heart of the defence.

With the departure of youngster Luke Green (who will be attending St. Francis Xavier University in Halifax), the Wanderers are in need of a centre-back who can play a depth role behind Schaale, Jems Geffrard, and highly-touted Brazilian defender Eriks Santos.

A younger player to learn from these top-tier teammates would be ideal – as would a year-over-year retainment policy like Halifax has with Ruby, who will be back for training camp in 2021 after impressing at The Island Games.

Forge FC – An under-21 attacker

Forge famously just passed the prorated under-21 250-minute threshold at The Island Games with defenders Monti Mohsen, Kladi Cela and goalkeeper Baj Maan contributing. All three are currently unsigned and Cela has aged out, meaning Forge will need at least one new young player to match CPL’s mandated three under-21s.

There are countless solid young Ontario players in this year’s class – Ontario Tech’s Christopher Campoli potted six goals and seven assists and has experience with Toronto FC, while former York draftee and Carleton standout Stefan Karajovanovic could be available.