Analysis: Minnesota United’s first moves of the offseason keep the roster largely intact

MINNESOTA UNITED | ANALYSIS

Minnesota United’s offseason may have begun abruptly, after they were knocked out of the playoffs last Sunday, but their time off will be busy.

The expansion draft for San Diego FC, MLS’s 30th team, is Dec. 11. Free agency begins Dec. 12. But the first step in the offseason was Wednesday, the day that Minnesota had to decide on 2025 contract options for a dozen players.

Perhaps not surprisingly for a squad that ended the year as one of the hottest teams in MLS, the Loons are picking up all but a handful of those options.

Among them are four players who, now that their options have been exercised, have deals that expire at the end of 2025 — and so are candidates for contract extensions.

This includes goalkeeper Dayne St. Clair, who had perhaps his most consistent year in net and has become one of the team’s most vocal leaders. As we inch closer to the World Cup in 2026, the 27-year-old has put himself in contention to be Canada’s No. 1 keeper — and started both games for the Canucks in the recent CONCACAF Nations League quarterfinals.

Also included is forward Tani Oluwaseyi, who put himself in line for a new deal with a breakout 2024 — especially early in the year, when he replaced veteran Teemu Pukki in the starting lineup. Pukki’s contract is up in June of next year, which would leave the Loons with Oluwaseyi and Kelvin Yeboah, who grabbed a starting spot with nine goals in 12 games, as their trusted center forwards.

Also among the extension candidates are central midfielder Hassani Dotson, who looked like a man reborn in the second half of the year, and Bongokuhle Hlongwane, who led the team in goals despite playing wingback for the final quarter of the year.

Maplewood native Devin Padelford, attacking midfielder Samuel Shashoua, defender Morris Duggan, backup fullback Anthony Markanich and goalkeeper Alec Smir also had options picked up on their contracts.

Midfielder Wil Trapp, meanwhile, had his option declined but is expected to sign a new deal with Minnesota. The defensive midfielder played 30 times for the Loons this season and became one of coach Eric Ramsay’s most trusted players.

That said, sporting director Khaled El-Ahmad did his best to add another defensive midfielder in the summer transfer window, and his first priority when the winter window opens (usually in late January) will probably be to resume that pursuit.

“The less you feel threatened by these things, the more you just embrace that this is what sports is,” Trapp said. “It doesn’t affect me at all. Go win the spot, go win games, be someone that helps the team win.”

The four players who had their options declined are center back Hugo Bacharach, midfielder Moses Nyeman, defender Derek Dodson and forward Patrick Weah. Dodson spent most of the season on loan with Birmingham Legion in the USL Championship; Weah, a Minneapolis native, played three games as a substitute before going on loan himself, to HB Køge in Denmark’s second tier. Bacharach and Nyeman saw more action for MNUFC2 than they did for the first team.

Lest you think the Loons have the luxury of time, it’s a pretty short offseason. If MLS begins its preseason on the same schedule as the past two years, the Loons are only seven weeks or so away from beginning their training for 2025.

“You almost have to force yourself to take the break,” Trapp said. “You relax as much as you can for a week or ten days, at least in my case. And then you get back to focusing on the things you want to improve.”

It’s no wonder players already are itching to get back to work. Some years, a playoff loss might feel like the end of an era. This time, it felt more like a brief pause in the Loons’ attempt to build something better. This year felt like the first step in a journey, for Minnesota.

“As a player, you want to be able to compete for trophies every season,” St. Clair said. “We made a lot of strides towards putting ourselves in a better position next year.”